The Truth of the Shinobi Way
by Lincoln859
Summary: This is the rewrite of The Shinobi Way. The first chapter is a warning about what is contained within, and I suggest you read it. As for a summary? Uzumaki Naruto; You know his life, his story, his hopes and his dreams. Let's flip the script. Take that less than ideal childhood, and those classic "evil" Characters, and add just a little more depth, shall we?
1. The Warning

**The Shinobi Way**

 _The Warning:_

This is your one and only warning. The Shinobi Way is the product of my incredibly fucked up mind, and it start's off dark and will only get darker. There will be no beacons of light or justice, no paragons of evil or virtue. All that there is, is gray. We all have light and dark within us, and my story is merely a product of my take upon a far too idealistic world.

This story **will** contain violence, torture, rape, implied rape, sex, implied sex, slaves, drug use, abuse, mass murder, war, betrayal, destruction, serial killers, manipulation, pedophilia, bestiality, and character death. There will be characters that I specifically build up only to immediately kill them, others that receive no build-up at all only to become incredibly important in a single moment. My shinobi world is not nice, it isn't pretty, and it sure as hell isn't for the close-minded. I have read and agreed to the fanfiction terms and conditions, and you know what? I'm not breaking any of them, no matter how horrible this story becomes.

 **Entries not allowed:**

Non-stories: lists, bloopers, polls, previews, challenges, author notes, and etc.

One or two liners.

MST: comments inserted in between the flow of a copied story.

Stories with non-historical and non-fictional characters: actors, musicians, and etc.

Any form of interactive entry: choose your adventure, second person/you based, Q&As, and etc.

Chat/script format and keyboard dialogue based entries.

That is taken directly from the Rules and Guidelines, something that each and every author must agree to before being allowed to post on . This story is rated M for a very good reason, and I beg you to acknowledge that before you read it. There are hundreds of stories on that are even further into the border of MA than mine will ever be, and I am posting this in the hope of improving my own writing skills. There is no point in writing an angry review telling me that my chapters are horrible or horrific, because every story has the potential to be pre-read by the administrators before ever making it to you all. If you are reading this, than that means that they have approved it, even if they do not necessarily like it. That is because they are at least professional to know that not everyone has the same tastes in literature, and are intelligent enough to realize that if someone does not wish to read something, the only thing they need to do is close the book. Or, in this case, hit the back button. Or even the _X_.

Once again, this story starts off traumatizing and only gets worse. While I refuse to allow myself to actually detail the rape scene of a child, it will be implied many times, and not just on the main character. The second chapter alone will have those who are seen as virtuous men exploring their particular vices. And it will only get worse.

If you ignore this warning, well, than that's not my problem. I've told you what will be included, and it's bad enough that I wasn't originally going to even bother mentioning the foul language that will be present in every chapter. I have done my duty, and given you fair warning. If you choose to proceed, only to be sickened by what you will find within...well, that's your own fault. This story is not for those with a weak stomach.

There will be no bashing, only brutal honesty. There will be no hatred or bias towards any particular character on my part, only from the character themselves. People you like will die, people you like will live, and people you trust will betray you.

I hope to weave a tale that will eventually be worthy of Rpeter's review stating that I could write original stories with the kind of quality in a single one of my chapters. Whether or not I succeed will be up to you all.

Now, onto something a little less serious.

I have not yet gotten anywhere near the point where I was in my old story, as every time I type something it isn't good enough. However, I am now working on it on a daily basis, and hope to be posting at least one chapter of decent quantity and excellent quality at least once every two weeks. Whether or not I succeed has yet to be seen. But at the bare minimum, I found with my previous story that working with my reviewers providing feedback did a whole lot more than my paltry attempts at writing without them.

Enjoy, or Don't. Your Choice.


	2. It All Begins

**The Shinobi Way**

 **Summary:** Naruto is far too innocent and trusting in the Canon Universe, especially when one considers the childhood he supposedly had. I've made that childhood slightly (or significantly, you decide) worse. Childish masks are one thing, but the saying "Once bitten, twice shy" applies to everyone. Naruto learns quickly, works as hard as he can to survive, and as such…changes the way his life, and the lives of all those he meets, ends up completely different.

 **Warnings:** Naruto will be quite strong in my story, but he will work for it. Along with this I am going to change the face of the Hidden Villages, along with the personalities of many of the more prominent members of the Shinobi Society. Not removing them, but adding to them. Because of this, battle scenes will be more realistic as well as more deadly, people _**will die**_ , and there may or may not be lemons involved. At the very least, sexual interactions will be implied. So, in general; Death, blood, gore, disturbing descriptions of various things (like torture), and anything else my twisted and depraved mind can come up with. Finally, I deviate from Canon in many places, and may follow it far too closely in other cases. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other resources from anime or manga that I may draw upon. This is a onetime disclaimer, as it is only _slightly_ obvious that I don't own any of this. After all, it isn't like this is a Fanfiction or anything, is it?

~ _ **The Shinobi Way**_ ~

"It's here." Was the terrified voice of a young man as he appeared inside a circular room, his eyes already seeking out the grim visage of his leader.

"About time. We've only been sensing it for the past three hours!" Was the light-hearted response from a blonde-haired man, but his eyes belayed the seriousness of the situation. Those blue eyes softened considerably as they gazed upon a much smaller version of himself, ignoring the several other people in the room with him.

"Orders, Hokage-sama?" A stressed but calm tone asked as a man with spiky brown hair idly played with his cane, his hard brown eyes gazing at his leader. The blonde in the white trench coat ignored him for the moment, instead rubbing the child he was holding in his arms.

"What do you think, Naruto-kun? Think you can handle it?" He asked the baby, the soft giggle causing an equally soft smile to form on his face, even as a tear traced its way down his cheek.

"Danzo." The man's voice became steel as the man who'd spoken before moved forward.

"Take the Root forces we have available and delay it. Use everything you can to keep it from getting to close to Konoha. The sheer force of its chakra has already killed some of the weaker members of the village. If it breaks through our lines all is lost. Sarutobi, you take the main forces, same orders. I need fifteen minutes." The two nodded, both the man with the cane and another armored form vanishing from the room.

"What of me, Minato?" Was the sad voice of the final figure in the room other than the man with the child, a tall white-haired man. The blonde ignored him for another moment, simply holding the baby in his arms.

"You're needed here Sensei. If the Death God fails to seal away the beast like I fear than you will be the only one left who will be able to get the civilians to safety." The older man frowned at the negative statement before speaking up.

"It will work brat! Sure, the Kyuubi's powerful, but to be able to defy a god? Quit over thinking it you idiot." That got a laugh from Minato.

"Perhaps I am over thinking things again Jiraiya-Sensei." The white-haired man with red lines trailing down his cheeks nodded.

"Just like when you tried to propose to Kushina. The Shinigami will seal away the Kyuubi into Naruto; Sarutobi-Sensei, Kakashi, and I will raise him to be a good man and a mighty Shinobi, without being a weapon of the village like they tried to do with Kushina." A flash of killing intent came from the Kage at the mention of the word weapon, memories flaring up in his mind as continued to stare at his son, absorbing everything about the boy that he could in his limited time left. A deep, heavy sigh left him.

"I can't believe she's gone Jiraiya." The man heaved a sigh, just like the one that had left his student.

"You'll see her soon Minato." A small comfort to the man, but a comfort nonetheless. Minato finally put the child down onto a table, a small puff of smoke disappearing into the air even as his hand skated across his son's body, black lines and swirls of ink trailing behind the brush he held.

"I still can't believe that fucker was able to wrench the Biju out of Kushina's seal, especially after how much we tightened it. The only reason we've had the day to prepare was because it managed to break free of his control temporarily." Jiraiya frowned in thought.

"The Kyuubi…strongest of the nine Biju, and widely regarded as the smartest, yet it only shows up whenever some idiot tries to gain control over it. How the hell are they managing it? The only one who ever could was Madara, and even then it was easy for the Shodai to negate that control." Minato kept on working, painting highly detailed kanji onto his son.

"That was only because of the Sharingan though, and there is no way that the Kyuubi would be caught the same way twice. It's the reason foxes are revered for being cunning after all." The white-haired man continued on, merely thinking out loud now. Minato shook his head.

"It doesn't matter now. The Kyuubi will no longer be able to be controlled after today, the seal will prevent it." The older man sighed, accepting the answer. The time passed quickly, and Jiraiya watched as his student…no, his son, left out the window, heading to his death.

' _And so I watch another close to me die…_ '

 **~3¾ year time skip~**

 _*SNAP!_ * A scream of pain followed the brutal sound of breaking bones, dark female laughter ringing out.

"Do you like it demon?" Another snap, another scream, more laughter, male this time.

"Little bitch! You deserve everything we're doing to you, don't you?" No response, a gleaming blade flashed, impaling a small and damaged form. No scream, even as a foot came up and slammed onto the hilt of the blade, driving it deeper into the body.

"Scum. Can't even scream right." Was the mutter from one of the many onlookers as they gazed upon the bloody and battered form of a three-year-old child, disgruntled smiles upon some of the faces.

"What do you expect? Demons can never do anything right." Snarled out a woman as she watched the pair of shinobi work the boy over, grimly grinning at the renewed screams as bloody bone poked out of an arm.

The peoples…fun was interrupted when another woman entered, disappointed groans ringing through the room, the two tormentors finally dropping the child, kicking him one final time.

"Has it really been an hour already, Mrs. Williams?" A low and cultured voice asked, though the woman ignored him for a moment, striding towards the broken boy and kicking him in one of his many injuries.

"It has. And as much as I would love to see this demon continue to get what it deserves…the council can only distract the good Hokage for so long." She said, smiling sinisterly down at the boy. So long as she kept on getting paid she didn't give a damn about what happened to the boy.

'… _have to…leave…_ '

"Now you all had better leave. If _he_ gets wind of a large group of people anywhere near the orphanage again than what happened last year will happen again." Several people started muttering, the boy only picking up a single word, "silver," and other disjointed fragments. Even if he had heard more, he wouldn't have been able to understand it.

The people shuffled out, many a final kick striking his bleeding frame, even more spitting upon the many-times broken boy. The woman who'd interrupted them stayed behind, staring at the unnatural child.

"I really don't get you demon." She mused, simply thinking aloud at this point.

"One would think you would at least _try_ to fit in. After all, if you had than it would have ensured that the Hokage would take more of an interest in you. Don't get me wrong…" She kicked him into a wall.

"I'm…very…happy…you…didn't!" She continued, stomping viciously on the barely developed parts that made the boy a boy.

"But no, you have yet to even say your first word! The only thing we've ever heard from you are the screams of pain you let out, and of course those fake tears you used let out in an attempt to get us to stop. Fake, because everyone knows demons can't cry." A high pitched chuckle. She truly believed he was a demon, and nothing could convince her otherwise. She walked over to the side of the room, ignoring the broken boy for a moment as she grabbed a bit of the alcohol there. Most of it had already been consumed, but there was more than enough left for her to get drunk, and she was already taking several long draws on the bottle she'd grabbed.

"You don't speak, you no longer fake crying…why? Is it because you know it will do no good you useless little fucker?" She laughed triumphantly.

"Let me tell you something, **demon**." She spat the word out, so much loathing present in it that it could kill.

"We're going to make you pay for every poor soul you killed. The good people of Konoha are going to torture you until just before your sixth birthday. Do you know why we're picking that date?" The boy didn't answer, even as he pulled himself up, his right hand pressing onto the still visible bone of his left arm, icy cerulean eyes gazing straight into her soul. ***Snap!** * The bottle shattered on the floor as she gazed in horror at what the boy had done. He'd forcibly broken his own bone, _again_ , just so that he could fit it back into his arm.

" **Monster!"** She screamed, throwing one of the other bottles at his head, re-breaking the child's nose. The boy's head snapped back, but it soon returned to its former position, glaring balefully at the now shuddering woman.

"I'll tell you why!" She continued on the earlier vein, a note of panic in her voice.

"You're too unnatural to live! Look at you! You just snapped your arm back into place without even _wincing!_ That shell you're inhabiting isn't even **four** yet! So we're going to kill you, and it's going to be an annual celebration every year from that day. You will burn in the pits of whatever hell may exist for all that you've done, and we shall _celebrate_ your passing." Her voice got louder and louder as she kept talking, hysteria ruling over her now.

"And I'm going to be the one to gouge out those eyes…those freaky little eyes of yours; they're going to be the first thing to go!" With a wicked laugh she left, yet there was more panic in it than triumph this time. The boy's eyes finally dropped to his battered body, intense pain wracking his form. He almost couldn't feel it anymore.

He knew he wasn't like other kids his age. They weren't hurt like he was; none of them had easily fifty people pushing in line to take turns torturing them. Yet despite all he'd been through…

Pain flared up in his body, every part of him felt like he was on fire again. His teeth bit clear through his lip in an attempt to keep from screaming, the canines dripping fresh blood. A minute or so passed, the new holes in his lips healing up; the last injury to do so.

Blue eyes gazed emotionlessly at his arm, the same one that had had the bone protruding three inches out of it just a few minutes ago. Some lingering pain was all that remained of the horrific injury. This was another reason why he was different. No matter how badly he got hurt, more pain would follow as the injuries healed, though he had found that he needed to have the bones in the general area of where they'd been removed from for it to work. Otherwise it felt like the time his arm had been ground for hours in between a spinning rock and some form of dirt, the villagers laughing as the each took turns pushing the wheel around.

He didn't know his name either. Oh, he knew what a name was, which was better than what the good people of Konoha had intended for him, but the only words he could refer to himself by were some of the more depraved terms a society could create. Demon was one of the lesser evils he was called. Actually...it was the nicest thing he'd ever been called.

Of course there were other things that put him as _unique._ He analyzed everything around him, which was part of the reason people were so uneasy around him. How often did you see a three and a half year old child with emotionless eyes? Or one that stared unflinchingly into a screaming mob? Those were the real reasons he was seen as a demon nowadays, even though it was because of those very beings that denounced him that he had become so cold. Ironic, wasn't it? A vicious cycle; began by the villagers and perpetuated unknowingly by the child who reacted the only way he knew how, by falling inwards and trying to find a way to escape what was being done to him. And the villagers, disgusted and frightened by the "demon's" behavior, amped up the assaults.

The boy still remembered the day he began to walk. It was actually one of the defining moments in his head, as it was the day that the beatings moved from two or three bigots in the entire village to a small portion of the total population. Despite the small percentage of people, there were still many people participating in the beatings, and now there were shinobi. So things had gotten a great deal worse for the boy.

The bloodied blond stood slowly, stumbling from weakness and lingering pain, making his way over to the discarded drinks. His eyes searched for something, anything that could help him.

' _There…'_ A half-eaten sandwich, he devoured it quickly. These were the only times he managed to eat enough, so no matter the condition he was in, he had to force it down. A few more bits and pieces of whatever the others were eating followed the sandwich, the blond barely tasting any of it. A small mercy really; fluids of all kinds covered the food, filth and trash that accumulated during the course of the hour's beating.

The door opened again, two of the orphanages helpers dragging him to the pitch-black room he'd occupied for the better part of his life. His eyes hardened even further as he was thrown against another wall. He was going to get out of here…soon.

 **~One month break~**

Blood splattered the floor, the steady plops of leaking fluid echoing in the otherwise silent room. A gleam of metal in the light, a desperate movement, a wet squelch as the blade hit home.

' _Have to move…_ ' A clang as a weapon hit a wall, bouncing off even as a child tried to dodge a second one, failing as it pierced his arm.

"Come on demon! A' least give us a bi' o' sport for ya kick the bucket!" Cerulean eyes watched crimson beads slowly dribble down an arm, more of the liquid oozing out from a knife. Those icy eyes turned towards the man who'd spoken, freaking the slightly drunken man out at the sight of the blue abyss.

"Quit fuckin' lookin' at me, demon." A dull thunk as a sharp blade sunk into wood, three more rapidly following it as the boy desperately avoided them.

 _Schlick…_ A needle pierced through the child's arm, a much smaller injury than any of the earlier ones. He hadn't even seen it coming. He looked in shock at his numbed arm, getting a laugh from the woman who'd thrown it.

"You like that? A little poison I've develop...you fucker!" She finished, snarling as the boy's arm came up, the same one that the needle had pierced. A dozen more needles flew at him, most going straight through his torso. A touch of numbness followed them, but it ended even faster than it had the first time.

"My senbon should have paralyzed you!" The woman growled, her pride wounded by the fact that a poison she'd worked months to create was so useless. The boy's head tilted slightly.

' _can't see those needles…they're bad.'_ They could hit his neck…he'd learned the hard way to not let anything strike there. More needles hit him, desperation raging within him. He couldn't dodge them if he couldn't see them.

A fist slammed into his stomach, the boy having barely seen a blur before he felt the pain, slamming into the wall from the strength of the strike. The rough, unhinged laughter of a drunken man rang out, pulling his fist back from where it had struck the child.

"Ya've gotten…good at dancin'…but canna' dodge…wha ya can' see." The man mumbled, swaying on unsteady feet, heedless of the boy rising to his feet, shaking hands wrenching a kunai from his chest as blood splattered on the floor.

His eyes glazed over as he stared at the bloodstained blade, his small hands tightening over the slippery hilt. Those cold blue eyes turned towards the drunken man, even as dozens of senbon flew towards him from the furious woman.

Desperation raged through him as the senbon came into view for a brief moment, the woman watching in shock as the child ducked, the needles sticking uselessly into the wall. A small gleam of gold pierced into her as the child raised his head, a dangerous pressure freezing her in place as red filtered through the gold. Something happened to her, something that hadn't happened since she'd been an academy student.

She lost her nerve.

"H…hey…Rio-kun…I think we should leave." The drunken man wobbled again, turning to face her with a glare.

"You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me Miya. We got this demon right where we wan' em. Let's fuckin' finish the job." The woman tore her eyes from the child, looking at the man. The look of raw fear on her face sobered him up quickly…almost as quickly as the pain did.

Uncomprehending eyes gazed down at the kunai sticking from stomach, golden eyes glaring at him from the face of the child he'd been tormenting. Blood bubbled up in his mouth, dribbling down his chin as the poison that had laced the blade worked its way through him. A scream rang out, for the first time in years not coming from the child, but instead from one of his tormentors. The child wrenched the blade free, blood spraying over him.

' _How did it all go so wrong?'_ She thought as that _demon_ walked towards her, rivulets of her lover's blood trailing down his pale face, blond hair dyed crimson. She couldn't move from her fear as those terrible golden eyes glared into her soul, the power of the red tingeing those eyes sending a warm liquid down her leg.

His hand tightened on the kunai, the blade coming up as high as he could manage to stab into her heart. More blood soaked the boy as he pulled the blade out, another woman's scream jolting him as the matron opened the door.

" **YOU DEMON! SHINOBI! THE DEMON'S FR…** " She looked down at the blade protruding from her belly, her last sight that of the child's shaded face, a gleam of gold glaring out at her from beneath his hair.

The child looked at the three dead bodies and ran, fleeing from the room, finally escaping his prison. He didn't know what was out there, but it had to be better than this.

Oh how wrong he was.

 **~Three Years Break~**

' _Such a wonderful evening.'_ Thought an aged man as he puffed happily on old cedar pipe, the taste of cherry tobacco fresh on his tongue.

"That's the last of your paperwork, Hokage-sama!" ' _Mmm, even better news.'_ He thought. Being the head of a Shinobi Village induced tons of paperwork, though fortunately the only parts of it that he saw were the items that required his personal attention; otherwise he'd never get it all done.

"Margaret, I think that I will be taking a walk this evening. After all, it's a lovely day, and I so rarely get to enjoy sunsets anymore." The pretty brunette he'd employed as his secretary nodded, beaming at him with a beautiful smile. Such a nice girl; he kept her around because she was a symbol for everything he'd fought for all these years. Young, happy, intelligent, and above all…innocent. She had no idea the monstrous things her Hokage had done to protect her existence, and if Sarutobi had his way, she never would. Nor would any of the other villagers know. It was better that way.

The Fire Shadow paid no heed to his Anbu bodyguards, other than a short moment to identify them. ' _Hmm, Kakashi and Hiro. Kakashi is barely recognizable without his signature silver hair…'_ The man thought, chuckling mentally.

It really was a wonderful evening; the sun was just beginning to go down, a magnificent purple tinge stretching across the orange horizon. Just the kind of evening he and his wife would snuggle up together on, watching the sun go down.

A heavy sigh wracked his frame at that thought. He was so lonely nowadays, ever since his wife had died during the Kyuubi invasion.

The mere thought of that tragedy was enough to make him sigh again. The worst thing to ever happen in Konoha's history; more lives had been in a four hour period than in two shinobi wars combined. Even his own successor, the Fourth Hokage, had fallen in order to defeat the beast. But the death of his wife had always weighed heavily upon his mind, and likely always would, especially with his eldest son dead in the same attack and the other one estranged.

Thinking about the Kyuubi attack always brought up memories of poor little Naruto as well. That always unsettled even his toughened stomach.

The grey-haired man shook his head, ignoring the slightly concerned look from his guards. It would not do to think of such things on an eve like this, not when there was so much beauty to be had. After all, Konoha was truly beautiful during the evening, the parents and children heading indoors and leaving the land peaceful and quiet.

Of course his evening off just wasn't to be, because it wasn't long before his sharp ears picked up a dragging sound, the steady _drip drip_ of a falling liquid playing havoc with his senses. In almost perfect unison the Third Hokage and his ANBU shadows _moved_ , vanishing from view and appearing in front of an nearby alley, the two ninja baring steel as they stood protectively in front of their leader, only for all three of them to freeze in shock, a horror-filled gasp escaping one of the ANBU.

"Naruto?!" Was the incredulous whisper from one of the ANBU guards, only years of training preventing him from running to the battered boy's side. It made Sarutobi sigh. The Civilians had evidently broken their end of the bargain, at least the only part of it that the Saindame had honestly expected them to uphold. The boy was not supposed to leave the orphanage!

The boy's head turned, icy blue eyes boring holes straight into the souls of the shinobi as a streak of crimson slowly trailed down his cheek. Brown and rusty red hair was cut short, a very rough job that was obviously self-done, various liquids and grime coating the once blonde hair. The child's skin was laced with bleeding cuts, his body marred by the proof of the village's abuse. Gashes ran from his shoulders down to his calves, blood slowly oozing from the already healing wounds.

"Move." The Kage's voice was like tempered steel as both the elite shinobi were at the child's side in an instant, Hiro standing guard as Kakashi's hands glowed green, the man quickly knocking the boy out to spare him further pain.

"His wounds are healing steadily…likely due to the Kyuubi. Just about the only thing the beast is good for." The ANBU muttered the last bit to himself

"Focus Anbu." The sharp bark of his leader's voice reprimanded him, though Kakashi was beyond caring at this point. It was because of the man's negligence that Naruto was in this shape.

"How long Inu?"

"These injuries are no more than an hour old. I couldn't say just how long he's been out on the streets sir." It was all the man could do to avoid placing venom in his voice, nearly spitting out the word "sir." ' _So much for the calm and collected Kakashi!'_ He thought idly, doing what he could to speed up Naruto's healing.

"Take him to the office. I will deal with this problem when he awakes. It is likely that I will be forced to place him in an apartment." The other Anbu bowed slightly before taking the child, vanishing with a swirl of leaves. Kakashi remained behind, his angry eyes upon his leader.

"I can take him in. Minato-Sensei would not want his legacy disrespected so. On top of that the boy is just that! A boy, no matter what he has experienced, and as such needs some form of guidance." Hiruzen's eyes hardened.

"I told you before, Kakashi! You cannot take him in, it would cause chaos in the village. Along with that you are far too busy! Being an Anbu is a full-time responsibility. Have you even slept for the past few days?" Kakashi shook his head, both a denial of the man's statement, yet still forced to acknowledge his point.

"Do you really think that Naruto would accept the constant presence of a parent though? There's no telling just how long he's been out on the street. I would simply be there if he needed me, which is the entire point isn't it?" He argued, passion filling his words as his eye burned into the aged Kage. It had no effect upon the man.

"No. It is too much of a risk! Our village teeters on the edge of a knife at all times Kakashi! Sacrifices must be made to keep us together! What is worth more Kakashi? The thousands in the village who are kept alive and thriving because of the civilian merchants who hate the Kyuubi, or the container of the very beast that killed so many?" Kakashi couldn't say anything. He knew which was more important; it didn't mean he liked it.

Sarutobi sighed in irritation as he saw the mutiny in Kakashi's eyes. Almost any other ninja in the entire village and he would be able to take actions to ensure the man would obey. Unfortunately, Kakashi was good… _too_ good. He was the darling of the village, always had been. He was everything a Konoha ninja strived to be, yet still managed to have obvious habits in public that made him seem more human. In other words, those very civilians that stopped him from training Naruto to defend the village also stopped him from disciplining Kakashi too severely. The delicate balance had to be maintained, and the civilians sacrificed as much as he did. Still, he had shown Kakashi a part of the stick; it was time to offer a carrot, with a kunai in the shadows.

A long suffering sigh drew Kakashi's attention back to his leader.

"Alright Kakashi; I'll make you a deal." The young man's head rose, caution in his eyes.

"You drop this idea for now…let me finish." He stopped Kakashi from interrupting with a raised hand.

"You allow me to give Naruto an apartment. You do not interfere with his life, you do not introduce yourself to him, and above all you do not _interact_ with him. In return you shall be his Jonin-Sensei when the time comes, allowed to teach him whatever you wish." It was a good deal; one far better than anything he would get if he continued to push the issue, and Kakashi knew it. Still, he wasn't quite satisfied.

"And if he is attacked while I am near?" Hiruzen almost sighed again, but the laws of the village were quite clear on this point.

"Do your duty as a Konoha Shinobi." Kakashi bowed before shun-shinning away, satisfied that at least he would be able to be a part of Naruto's life, yet already making plans to ensure that Naruto would be safe from now on. It was partially his fault that Naruto had been beaten so badly; He'd been taking on far too many missions of late, and had no time for anything, least of all spending hours watching him. It wasn't like the brief time two years after the attack, when he could annihilate everyone who even came near Naruto with the intent to harm him.

Hiruzen vanished as well, heading to take care of a few things. He had a lot to do, and only until Naruto awoke to do them.

~Break~

Muttered voices woke him up, the several low tones hushing immediately as his breathing changed, a warm hand firm upon his chest, stopping him from rising. Panic filled him, cerulean eyes opening into a surprisingly calming stare of a brown-haired man.

"Calm down Naruto. You're safe." He felt some of the energy flowing into him from the man, power that told the truth of his intentions. The man meant him no harm; a new experience for him. His head tilted lightly to the side, curiosity present in his eyes. Whether it was about the man beside him or the man's missing eye, even he wasn't entirely sure. From his limited experience, the only one ever in danger was himself.

He slowly let Naruto up; being careful to avoid irritating the boy's nearly healed injuries. His eye lingered worriedly on a particularly nasty scar on his neck.

"Can you speak?" He asked slowly, worrying over the child. Naruto nodded, eyes flashing around the room. The man was quite impressed when he noticed that Naruto's eyes lingered on the four Anbu hidden in the room, his muscles tensing up in preparation to run.

"No one in this room is going to hurt you, Naruto." The boy's icy eyes turned back to him, confusion still present in them.

"What…is Naruto?" His voice was rough, not even a trace of a typical child's voice in it. The rawness of his voice grated on the Anbu's ears, each and every human in the room wincing at the sound, even as what he had said registered with them. Horror filled the man, shock showing in his eye even despite his attempts to suppress it.

"Naruto is your name! Don't you know what a name is? It's something you call yourself, and how others refer to you! Like I'm Ka…Inu, and the woman in the corner is Tora." Naruto's head tilted again, his mouth opening as his rough voice came out again.

"Know…what name is. Naruto…not mine…mine demon…mine Kyuubi." Kakashi stared in complete horror at the child, not sure which was worse out of the hundred terrible things he'd found out so far. His rage began to grow, but it faltered before it even began to show as he recalled how skittish Naruto was. Even now the boy was looking warily at the ninja hidden in the shadows, still tense.

"No…your name is Naruto." Cerulean orbs turned back to Kakashi at the sound of his quiet, sad voice. Somehow the child understood what Kakashi was trying to say, but before he could respond the door opened.

Kakashi blinked in surprise as one moment Naruto was there and the next he was gone, moving far faster than he had expected the boy to be capable of.

' _Did he just use Chakra?'_ It was the only possible explanation behind a child being able to move that quickly. Any further thoughts that he had were cut off by the bark of his leaders voice.

" **INU!** Where is Naruto?" Hiruzen practically yelled, not able to sense the boy at all, nor could he see him. Kakashi looked at his leader, confusion filling him, until he realized that _he couldn't sense Naruto_. The child had vanished. He didn't even get a chance to speak before the calm tone of one of the other Anbu answered the Kage.

"The child is underneath the desk, Hokage-Sama. He moved surprisingly fast upon hearing you enter." Both Kakashi and Hiruzen whirled, flashing behind the desk to see the boy pressing into the wood, fear and confusion upon his face.

"Easy Naruto. He's not going to hurt you either." Kakashi said, attempting to calm him. Naruto did calm down...pressing his back against the desk as he drew a chipped and battered kunai. Kakashi held out a single hand, flat and palm out, vertical to the ground.

"Calm down...we're here to help." The boy didn't move as Sarutobi came closer, walking around and crouching down in front of him.

"He's filthy..." The elderly man observed idly, the simple statement drawing a hiss from Naruto.

"How much can you understand Naruto?" Kakashi asked, growing even more worried as the boy growled at the leader. His voice drew the boy's attention back to him, anger and fear swelling up inside him.

"Not...not filthy...not scum..." He snarled, backing up even further into the desk as his fist tightened on the knife, his knuckles tuning white. It was all Kakashi could do not to snarl; even the Third, as many horrible things as he had seen, was stricken. Rage filled the older man, all directed towards the civilians.

"Rat." A shadow appeared before the Kage almost instantly.

"Summon the Civilian Council; I have a few things I need to discuss with them. Inu; Clean Naruto up. I didn't mean that he was scum, I meant that he had a great deal of dirt on him. He's a natural blonde for Kami's sake and he's got almost black hair with rusty highlights." The Anbu nodded as Sarutobi walked out, fury evident in every movement. Kakashi sighed.

"Come on out Naruto...you'll be fine...no one here is going to hurt you." He tried, attempting to reassure the boy, to get him out from beneath the desk.

"Why...here..." It took less than a second for Kakashi to realize what the boy was asking.

"We found you last night. You were hurt, badly, and you passed out from your injuries. We heal...we fixed you up, and we kept you here until you woke up. We're here to help Naruto." Suspicion warred with acceptance in Naruto's eyes as he stared at Kakashi. Something was hidden inside those blue eyes...something that Kakashi couldn't recognize.

' _He's...telling the truth...somewhat..._ ' Naruto knew he hadn't passed out; he hadn't passed out from a beating in _years._ Still...he could tell that this...Inu, at least, meant him no harm. The others he wasn't so sure about. The boy didn't lower his guard, but he did relax somewhat, enough to reassure Kakashi a little at least.

The man made small talk for a few hours, long enough for him to get a slightly better reading on the boy. Not much, unfortunately. Despite his every effort, the boy barely talked, and even when he did it was only a few words in his rough voice. It had only taken hearing the boy speak a few times for Kakashi to get him a cup of water; something the boy didn't trust until the man had sipped from it himself. It was an awkward few hours, and some of the worst of Kakashi's life. The sight of the boy he should be caring for, so damaged that he still couldn't trust an adult...

The door opening again finally ended the silence. The Anbu was pleased to see that Naruto didn't bolt for cover this time, instead turning to the side as he glared icily at the door, watching as the Third Hokage entered slowly, a great deal calmer than when he had left.

"How is young Naruto doing Kakashi?" He asked, his voice full of warmth. It enraged Kakashi; knowing that this scum was faking warmth to a destroyed child, even while planning how to get his plan back on track. But it wasn't like he could do anything; Sarutobi was the Hokage, and the man was still a great deal stronger than he was. If only...

"Still far to wary to trust strangers, Hokage-sama." He reported, taking a breath to calm himself. There was no point in dwelling on "ifs."

"How much can he understand." That made the Anbu pause for a moment.

"I'm still not sure sir. He understands more than you would think...but how much? It's impossible to know, as there's no real way to tell." Sarutobi nodded slowly, several different thoughts running through his head.

' _This is one hell of a problem. On the one hand Naruto needs to stay uneducated, untrained, and as helpless as possible for the next few years. But that ship sailed when he was found by Kakashi. The man's too valuable to Konoha to risk spiting so early in his career. The man's already an Anbu captain...borderline S-Rank. We can't afford another S-Rank missing ninja.'_ They really couldn't. The village was _still_ dealing with the repercussions of Orochimaru, and that man had never shown any interest in the Anbu. Kakashi would be able to hide from all of Konoha's forces for more than long enough to reach a village like Iwa, but if he chose to go native and raise a gang to attack Konoha? Who knows how much damage he could do?

' _Still...even throwing Kakashi out of the picture...the only chance to keep him weak has long been destroyed, especially considering the Kyuubi. The beast won't let any mind-altering techniques or seals take effect upon the boy. So I have no choice. I can no longer keep him completely suppressed, but training him to his full potential would be stupid. With how he's reacting to us, the best in the village...there's far too great a chance that he will flee from the village at the earliest opportunity, or worse, he releases the beast as soon as he finds out about it. Even I haven't mastered the seal yet...Danzo might have, but there is no way that sly old fox will even consider sacrificing himself unless there is no other choice. Feh, so much for easily getting rid of the bastard.'_

"Inu. Get him cleaned up, see how much you can learn from him about what he's been through. See if you can teach him how to speak properly while you're at it." He finished before walking away, pondering how best to get him able to serve the village. After all, his original was shot to hell.

The door closed as the Anbu beside Naruto sighed, placing a hand on the skittish child's shoulder, even as the boy shied away.

"Come along Naruto. You smell terrible." The boy frowned at him, not understanding the term, causing the man to sigh. He pulled the boy along, giving him to a few nurses who bathed him, even if the boy stayed stiff and afraid the entire time. Kakashi was forced to stop them from taking the damaged kunai from the boy multiple times. He knew the look in Naruto's eyes, the look of a caged animal. He'd seen it before, far to many times. If the kunai was taken away than Naruto would stop being...cooperative. As it was they were all very lucky that the blade hadn't found itself imbedded in the nurses when they were stupid enough to make a sudden movement.

It was roughly an hour before the boy was returned, the watchful Anbu having never been more than a few feet away from him, worried that the child may be hurt if he left. He looked completely different from before, now that he'd been given some decent clothes and the years of dirt, grime, and blood had been washed away.

Kakashi couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the child, now clean and clothed. He looked so much like his former sensei that it hurt.

He was young...would have been a cute kid if it wasn't for those icy blue eyes, glaring out at the world from beneath sun-kissed blond hair, three vicious scars on each of his cheeks, marring the tanned skin, burnt from countless hours trapped out in the hot sun. He found it curious; those six scars were the only ones currently on his body. One would think that after all he had been through there would be a lot more. He supposed that the Kyuubi truly was a blessing to the poor child.

"Does it feel good to be clean, Naruto-kun?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. He didn't get one, just a touch of confusion from the child as someone said yet another thing he didn't understand, eyes hardening back into chips of ice the second after, causing Kakashi to sigh again. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

"Come on..." He said, placing a hand on the boys shoulder, resisting the urge to heave another sigh as he felt the boy tense up even further.

"Let's see if we can teach you how to speak."

~ **The Shinobi Way~**

"Managed to find out anything Inu?" The warm tone of the Hokage caused the boy to freeze again, what little progress Kakashi had made erased instantly.

"Naruto doesn't talk unless he absolutely has to, and I haven't found anything that will incite a response other than him withdrawing into himself, expecting to be beaten. He notices every escape in a room, yet doesn't fight when someone touches him, simply freezing. I can't tell what he's thinking; whatever he's been through, it's taught him how to hide everything. Considering the state we found him in...it's pointless. He simply listens to everything that is said around him, absorbing it. If it wasn't for my training I wouldn't even know the boy feels confusion whenever something happens that he doesn't understand. It's terrifying."

And it really was to Kakashi. Even when he became a jonin at such a young age he hadn't been so withdrawn...but he'd also had someone to help him recover from the killing. To Sarutobi it was more of an irritance.

"Very well. I shall assign a chunin to teach him how to read and write." It was better to keep Kakashi away from the boy as much as possible once he managed to separate them. The man would do more than enough damage to his plans once he became the boy's teacher.

"Hopefully during the process the child will learn to speak. Naruto, look at me." The blonde-haired child turned, staring coldly at the Hokage. The old man couldn't help but shiver; those eyes didn't belong on a child.

"Do you know what an apartment is?" The boy nodded cautiously, recognizing the term. They were places to avoid; places where people gathered, where they stayed. If he was around them, he'd get hurt.

"I've arranged for you to stay in one." The boy's head tilted, fear flaring up deep within before it was ruthlessly suppressed. So the old man wanted to kill him? It was nothing new. He'd simply have to escape the apartments again, like he had when more of these masked people had dragged him into one, leaving him there for the villagers. Those things were at least easy to escape from, not like the places called "Hospital" or "Library."

"It's on the other side of town, in the red light district. I've stocked it with food and clothing for you." Poison was the old man's method? That was odd. All of these masked people fell all over themselves to obey him, yet he chose poison?

The old man kneeled down, his weary bones creaking in protest, his warm and caring brown eyes meeting Naruto's icy orbs.

"I promise Naruto. No one will ever hurt you again." He said, looking for all the world like a caring grandfather, upset because his beloved grandchild had gotten hurt while playing.

' _No one will hurt me?'_ Naruto thought bitterly. ' _He's right, in a way. I can barely feel pain anymore._ ' Naruto didn't believe a word coming from this man's mouth. He'd fallen for this trick once before; it would never happen again. He didn't say anything, and his disbelief didn't show on his face; nothing but icy calm.

The Third Hokage resisted the urge to frown, but shrugged internally. His plan to keep the boy suppressed had failed miserably; perhaps he should turn the boy into a weapon for the village. Not a strong one, at least not right away. If he wanted that he'd give the boy to Danzo, and have his emotions stripped away. No, the third didn't want that. But an eventual protector, a mighty guardian of the village? That sounded good to Sarutobi. That part would begin with Kakashi, doing exactly what the Third knew he would, regardless of whatever orders he gave the man. Training Naruto into a mighty force.

"Inu, head ahead of us, make sure no villagers cross our path. We don't want our little friend here getting scared again, do we?" A dismissal, but not one that Kakashi realized. The man saw it as a perfectly valid reason to separate from Naruto. The boy didn't need anymore trauma, today or any other day. The man vanished, leaving Naruto alone with the Hokage, the elderly man straightening up.

"Come along, Naruto-kun. Let's go to your new apartment. Perhaps I can show you a few parts of the village along the way." Step one was simple. It was obvious that Naruto would never be able to care for the _people_ of the village. That was already a lost cause as far as Sarutobi was concerned. Anyone would hate the people of a location with how much the boy had gone through. The place itself though? The beautiful scenery, the history of the village, the homeliness of the village's appearance? If Naruto could come to love that, then it would be as if he loved the people...perhaps even better. Farms could be replanted, homes rebuilt...but the village itself? If it was ever destroyed, the landscape would never be the same. Naruto might not fight to protect the villagers, but the village itself, and that would keep the people safe. So long as his people were safe, Sarutobi would happily make compromises like this. The first step to a decade long plan.

The boy followed him, well aware of the eyes watching him from the shadows. It was the only reason he didn't flee from the old man at the earliest opportunity. And so he followed the man, his eyes always looking for threats, finding none in the empty streets. It wasn't long before the Hokage stopped, causing Naruto to do the same.

"Take a look around Naruto." The boy stared coldly at the Hokage, making the man sigh. He knew it was far to early to begin starting his plan- the boy was much to suspicious. And yet he'd found that he wanted to share the wonders Konoha held with him. His Anbu held no appreciation for an old man's musings.

"Just look, Naruto-kun." He asked quietly, radiating defeat. Despite himself, Naruto found himself looking around, seeing the village as the stars lit up the sky.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said, letting the boy absorb the sights for a few moments.

"Isn't it beautiful? It pleases this old man's eyes to see the sights of this village, day after day. The simple wonders of the world as the sun rises and falls, watching it from our greatest landmark, the faces of the Hokage's." He said quietly, Naruto turning back to him. Hiruzen knew that the boy likely had no idea what he was saying, but that didn't matter. Naruto would eventually grow to learn what those words meant, and this simple moment, caused by an old man stopping to enjoy the scenery and point it out to the boy, would hopefully take root. Naturally, it would take a great deal more to accomplish his goal...but this was the start.

The man nearly smiled as he noticed the boy take one final, slower look around when they began to walk again. It seemed like it would work, so long as he properly reinforced it from time to time. He took the boy to the red light district, wondering how the child's surroundings would affect him as he grew up.

The red light district was the area for things that were "illegal", but greatly swelled the village's coffers regardless. Besides, simple things like that weren't illegal for his shinobi, so long as it wasn't taken too far. If he had his way he would have placed Naruto in the middle of the shinobi district; the place was perfect to place people you wanted to keep tabs on. Unfortunately, the boy was a Jinchurriki. The same reason he wanted the boy watched by most of the shinobi in the village was the same reason that he couldn't allow it to happen. The boy would die, and quickly too, and that could potentially destroy the village if the Kyuubi was unleashed because of it. Minato had assured him that the Kyuubi would die with Naruto...but there was no way in hell that Sarutobi was going to risk it.

It took nearly an hour for the pair to arrive at Naruto's new home, the red-light district being several miles from the Tower. Konoha was a large city; one of the larger ones in Fire Country in fact. Civilians felt safe here, and Sarutobi had spent his entire life ensuring that they stayed safe.

"This is your new apartment Naruto-kun." The child couldn't help but frown as he looked at the place, even if on the inside he was nothing but confused.

The Apartment was abandoned, even if it was in moderately decent shape. The concrete it was built from was a drab gray, flakes of ancient paint of some unknown color her and there upon the walls.

"I'm sorry it's in such terrible condition, but after the...after the owner died a few years back no one wanted to keep the building in good condition."

It was partially true. The owner had died during the Kyuubi attack...but the reason no one had taken it over was because it wasn't really an apartment building. It had originally been a brothel, one quite favored by one of his students. The entire first floor was one big "lobby", the second was a great deal of private rooms. The third floor, where Naruto would be staying, had been residential. The whores who so often had serviced his shinobi stayed there. Fourth floor had been the relaxation floor for the whores, and the fifth had been where the owner nearly always was, being serviced by the very whores he employed.

He really didn't want to have to place Naruto in such a place. The building had never been cleaned after all, and it was guaranteed that the workers had left many things behind when they had been evicted after the attack. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice. If Naruto was to remain safe, Hiruzen couldn't just place him anywhere. Every Apartment complex in Konoha had a bare minimum of four or five people who would want to kill the boy, and Sarutobi just couldn't spare the Anbu to protect the boy right now. His Anbu were being run ragged even with just their normal duties, and if they had to spend long hours watching a child it was entirely possible that the exhausted soldiers would fall asleep, even with all of their training.

Naruto followed the old man, still with a wary eye on the Anbu, into the building, looking around at the large, empty space. The child couldn't help but frown...he'd seen a place like this before. It was that place where those people had been all over each other, sloshing around that foul tasting liquid and moving against each other as much as they could. It had been odd; almost everyone in there had been screaming, but it hadn't been in pain. Oh well, this place was abandoned, so he supposed it didn't really matter. He was just fortunate that it was abandoned; he didn't want to be touched again.

"Come along Naruto-kun, you'll be on the third floor." The Hokage walked him up their, to the only serviceable room on the floor. The rest of the rooms would have required new furniture, or in some cases new walls, floors...or in one disgusting case, both. Naruto followed behind the man wordlessly, keeping an eye on his surroundings. He was worried that it wouldn't be as abandoned as it seemed.

"This will be your room, Naruto-kun. It's simple, but it will be home." Sarutobi still couldn't believe he'd been forced to concede Naruto's _home_ for something that was more important the village at the _moment_. It was a give and take relationship with the council, and in exchange for emergency supplies to be given to one of their shinobi allies, given as in the village not having to pay the _civilian's_ for it, even if the shinobi would get their benefits from it, Naruto was to be stuck in an abandoned building. There was a benefit to the civilians despising the poor child after all.

Naruto looked at it, a frown spreading across his face. An old, worn door, now an ugly brown, the original color unable to be seen, set in the worn cement of the building. The man ushered him forward, the boy reluctantly placing his hand on the door, pushing it open to reveal his new "home."

It was a piece of shit.

The drab gray walls pressed in around him, the old carpet covering the cement was a stained, dull red. It was a basic three room place, a small kitchen with a stove, refrigerator, a sink, and a couple of cabinets and drawers, connected to the living room, which held all of one futon, all in the same room, not separated at all. Naruto didn't know what most of those were; the only times he'd seen them had been when he'd been beaten. He knew what the big white box did, it kept things cold. He never understood why though.

"It's simple, but it will serve you well Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said, his voice low and calm, despite his own disgust at the apartment. He could feel his Anbu's dislike for the place as well. At least Kakashi had only glared at him for ten minutes when the man had seen it. Yet, sadly enough, this was the very best that he could get for Naruto without outrage striking.

Naruto continued to look around, checking the small bathroom. It was in better shape than what he'd already seen, as everything there looked to be in working order, at least from what he understood of it. It wasn't like he'd ever been allowed to use them; the only reason he even knew what they did and what they were for was because of how many people had shoved his head into each of them...often flushing the previously used toilet around his head for their own amusement. That hadn't happened since he'd left the orphanage, fortunately, but he still had bad memories of those occasions.

The boy shut the door to the bathroom, ignoring the aged wooden floor that had creaked under his foot when he had stepped in, stepping back onto the worn carpet. He walked towards the final doorway, looking into the equally used and abused bedroom. If the bathroom was better than the first room, this one was definitely worse. What little bit of the carpet remained was in bits and pieces, an ancient bed with a blackened frame, a stained and lumpy mattress lying upon it. The small wooden wardrobe was stained and cracked, the doors hanging loosely off of it, a few tattered outfits visible through the gaps.

He turned back to the old man, wondering just what was going on. There were no other people, and the place looked a lot worse than he'd ever seen when there actually were people staying in them.

"You'll be staying here Naruto." The boy's blank look caused the old man to sigh, having temporarily forgotten that the boy didn't understand everything he would say.

"You'll be safe here." That got through to the boy if his skeptical eyes were anything to go by.

"Look Naruto." He waved the boy towards him, pointing his attention towards the door, and the several shiny, very new bolts attached to it.

"Nobody will be able to get in through this." Naruto's eyes immediately moved to the only window in the building, right across from the kitchen, causing Sarutobi to follow the boy's gaze.

"The window can lock too, Naruto. You'll be perfectly safe while you stay here." The man smiled reassuringly at the eternally wary child, his warm brown eyes doing their absolute best to put the child at ease. It did the man no good, the boy had no desire to trust the man, and even less to grow close to him. Sarutobi's smile didn't dim, knowing that it would take patience to get the child to trust him.

"There's food in those cabinets Naruto, along with a few other necessities. More than enough for you to survive. You'll also get a monthly stipend, the same that all orphans get. It will be quite enough for you to live on. A tutor will be here in a week or two to teach you how to read, write, and speak clearly. I'll visit every now and then to check on how you are doing, to make sure that everything is going alright for you." The boy gave no response, no signal that he had heard or understood what the man had said.

"Have a nice day Naruto-kun!" The man said, somewhat cheerily. Even he wasn't entirely unaffected by those icy cerulean eyes, staring out from where they were set in his tan, scarred face.

The boy made no sound as the man let himself out, the Anbu staying behind, just outside the door, waiting. What they were waiting for, Naruto didn't know. He just knew that it wouldn't be good for him if it was what he thought it was.

It didn't really matter anyways. He would soon leave, heading back to the only safe place he had ever known. He only stayed there on very rare occasions, and even then it was only when he was absolutely certain he wasn't being followed. He needed to get away from this place, needed to get away from the people watching the door and the window before they joined their masked comrades in attempting to kill him. He knew it wouldn't be long before they attempted it.

He puzzled over the events of the day as he sank down onto the thin carpet, back to a pair of walls in a corner as he stared emotionlessly at the door and window. No one would be entering without him knowing.

The beating earlier was nothing more than a standard event. If he didn't know better he would say that he had gotten careless...but he hadn't. He was no match for the ones hailed as "shinobi", and he knew it far too well.

It had started off simple enough. He'd stolen an orange for his morning meal. He'd had many a near-death experience attempting to steal apples, the people who sold them watched them far closer than they did the much more visible oranges. As such, even with the much brighter tones of the orange, it was much, _much_ safer to steal. Unfortunately, that morning had announced the return of the hunters. He'd gone a whole week without being hunted, being so cautious that the civilians had not been able to locate them.

So, as they always did, they turned to the shinobi, and as good as he had gotten, he couldn't hide from those shinobi who were known as "Jonin." And so he'd run, ran for his life and his limbs, and had failed.

He didn't remember much, just the so-called "Hokage" and two masked men before he blacked out.

A hand came up, rubbing the back of his neck. He was well aware that he'd been knocked out; it hadn't been the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. And then that man with the animal mask, short and spiky brown hair. He recognized the animal, how couldn't he? He'd spent many a cold night snuggled up with one of their kind on the street, ones that were almost as starved as he was.

That man had somehow managed to reassure him, a very warm energy surging through him whenever the man had touched him. It was warm, calming, and from Naruto's perspective, _deadly_. He'd never been relaxed in his entire life, didn't even know what the word had meant until whatever the hell that energy was had run through him. It wanted Naruto to trust it, wanted Naruto to trust its owner.

Naruto took one look at it and said _no._

He'd calmed down alright, calmed down to _think_. If that man had touched him for much longer he would have started panicking. It felt far top much like the time they had drugged him and several people had...

He shook his head, the pain of that was still to near. Even with his unnatural healing, and he knew it wasn't normal, it had taken him a week and a half to be able to run again. And that had caused many problems. One thing was fortunate about it; the drug never worked on him again, nor did anything of lesser strength. And considering just how powerful that drug had been...well, Naruto was immune to almost everything.

That week had taught him many valuable lessons, things that had helped him ever since. He could find a way out of any room; for example, in this room. The structure of the bathroom wall was very weak. Weak enough that he could bust through the once solid concrete between this room and the next while running at roughly half his top speed. He'd likely break his fist or his shoulder, depending on how he went at it, but the fact remained that he could do it, and more importantly keep moving after it.

He'd noticed that as well. As time went on, and the beatings grew worse, he began to feel less and less. A bone breaking clean in half in any part of his body only got a small spike of something that didn't quite register as pain anymore. Oh he knew that his arm had been broken, hell, he could still feel when he stubbed his toe for crying out lout! But the more pain that occurred, the more it was dampened. The last severe torture session that he'd taken part in it had taken them skinning his arm, whipping him with a nail studded whip, all the while underneath a shower of some kind of acidic juice before he started screaming.

Then the first meeting with the so called Kage. What was the old man's game? He seemed kind, weak and kind. He didn't like it. It seemed false, almost like the man had a far different way of speaking and acting than what he had portrayed. It had just seemed so fake.

And then this place. It was a death trap if he'd ever seen one. Several stories up to ensure that he wouldn't be able to jump out of a window, trashed inside and outside, and he could almost guarantee that the bed was so full of insects that he'd die in a single night of attempting to sleep on it, not that he'd be able to. It would just be lying there as he was eaten alive. No thank you, he knew how that felt, and he had no desire to experience it again.

The boy shook his head, touching one of his now blonde locks in amazement. Was this what his hair really looked like? It was...new. He wasn't sure whether or not he liked it yet.

His eyes roamed his skin, the barely tanned skin. It had been a very dark brown just a few hours ago. He felt unburdened, almost as though he had been carrying extra weight that had now vanished. Not much, but it was a noticeable difference. His stomach began to growl, the boy ignoring it. He'd gone hungry far too many times to count, there was no way he'd be bothered by it now. He'd slip out tomorrow, after they'd let their guard down a little. It would be even easier to hide amongst the masses now that he looked a little more like everyone else. It had taken a lot of practice to be able to blend into the groups when he was so different from the rest.

He leaned back into his corner, a single eye closing as the other icy orb glared out into the dark apartment, going to sleep with one eye open, just like he always had. He could do no more for the day with all of the Anbu watching him, and it would be the height of idiocy to attempt any attack upon them. They were many times stronger than he was.

~ **The Shinobi Way** ~

Time passed quickly enough, a full month rapidly going by, the suspicious boy never truly warming up to the old Hokage and the tutor's he sent to teach him to read and write. In fact, much to Sarutobi's dismay, he remained eternally cold, even as he quickly learned all that the man was willing to teach him. Even now Sarutobi wasn't quite sure how much the boy knew or what he was capable of. The only thing that he was sure of was that the boy still hated the villagers.

Well, perhaps hate was far too strong a word. Naruto was essentially a block of ice. Every time the old man looked into those eternally frozen cerulean orbs, glaring out from their spot within a tanned face, he shuddered in unease. No emotion, it was almost like Danzo had taken the boy and removed each and every emotion from him. It was impossible to tell if the boy felt anything at all anymore. That was both a benefit and a negative in the Hokage's mind, but it was mainly a negative. If the boy had truly lost all emotion then it meant that he no longer cared about anything, and his, admittedly weak attempt to make the boy fall in love with Konoha had failed before it even began.

The old man frowned deeply as he watched the boy attend the academy. It was his first day, and already it was beginning. The parents were warning their children away from the boy, a mere seven years of age. Glares and whispers were aimed at him, the boy not taking any notice of it. Sarutobi would almost be proud, if it wasn't for the fact that it was from the fact that the boy was, in essence, a stone wall. Hell, one would get more reaction from a stone wall if they were highly trained in reading the nuances of human body language.

It was admirable how well the boy could hide his emotions, Sarutobi would give him that. Unfortunately, this wasn't the time of life for it to be in such a prominent stage. Even some of his seasoned jonin weren't that good at concealing their emotions.

The old man sighed in dismay as the boy went into the building, seeming to ignore almost everything, at least from the view of the civilians around him. From his trained perspective? The boy was constantly on alert, always ready to flee, and here it was amplified far beyond the normal. The boy would likely flee the moment someone approached him with violent intentions, not exactly something one looked for in a shinobi.

It just went to show that Sarutobi Hiruzen knew far too little about the young boy, despite his every effort to the contrary.

~ **The Shinobi Way** ~

His head hurt. It was a small thing, a headache, even if it wasn't the first he'd ever experienced; it was still distracting and painful. It was odd. He'd felt so much pain, ever since he could remember, but a simple pain inside his head was enough distract him.

Why were they so loud? Did they not understand that noise meant that they could be found? And if they were found, they could be killed. He just didn't understand them.

They were loud, they were obnoxious, and they had no clue about the many, many perils that existed in his building alone.

His hand tightened around the hilt of an old, chipped kunai that he had in his pocket. He was ready to kill anyone who approached him, not that any of the children would. They'd all been warned away from him by their parents. He'd heard them. Each and every one of them had been told to stay away from "the demon brat", or they would be grounded until after they graduated from the Shinobi Academy.

He refused to be a victim to those slower than him, and he had also heard the parents of the older children, and what said older children were planning. They were much slower than him, so pathetically slow, in both mind and body. If they tried anything...well, they were dead. Simple as that.

Cerulean orbs glared around the room from his place in the shadows, calculating escape roots and who was most likely to attack him.

The most likely was the teacher, a chunin by the looks of him. The glare the man had shot at him when he came in had told Naruto which side he was on quite clearly. It would have even been intimidating if he hadn't seen the same eyes so many times in his life. Other than the glares the man had been ignoring him, for which he was quite thankful. If the chunin drew attention to him then it would bring the attention of the children, and that would bring years of trouble from even more people. He was already dealing with their parents; he had no need to have the children added to his problems.

Naruto shook his head lightly, relaxing slightly. There was no threat in this room for the moment, though whether it would stay that way as time went on was a different question entirely. Another question was whether or not he would be able to learn...

"Oi! Brat in the corner! You weren't paying attention! I won't tolerate that kind of attitude in my classroom. Don't want to take the life of a shinobi seriously, huh?" The chunin's angry voice grated on Naruto's ears. The man wasn't wasting time today, on the first day that he'd ever seen the man.

"Answer me brat!" The man spat. Naruto looked at him, his icy voice giving the man pause, even in his rage.

"You were taking attendance sir. I was waiting for my name to be called." The man's anger returned immediately, his face turning red. Naruto wondered why the man changed moods so quickly. He hadn't been rude, at least not from what he understood of the word. It was most likely the fact that he had the gall to speak up in defense of himself.

"Don't give me a smart remark brat! That's a warning. Next one and you're out of the class." One of his eyebrows rose in surprise. The man had actually not kicked him out at the first available opportunity?

"Don't you roll your eyes at me brat! Out!" And there it was, a smug smirk spreading over the man's face as Naruto walked out of the classroom. That's what he was expecting. At least his time would be better spent than staying in a classroom where he was vulnerable.

He moved through the school quickly, doing his absolute best to avoid sight from anyone as he did so, knowing that he would find trouble if someone found him. He left through one of the side doors, something that turned out to be a very good decision when he noticed a few angry drunks lingering around the front double doors. Just another day. It wasn't so bad now. He had, for the moment, a safe haven, somewhere he could go without risking death and dismemberment. He had to admit, he liked that word. Dismemberment, it perfectly described what he wanted to do to everyone who'd ever hurt him. Still, he was safe, for the moment, at least. He had the nasty suspicion that it wouldn't last long.

Naruto made it out of the school, beginning to run through the alleyways. Wind raced through his hair as he went right to the upper limits of what a civilian marathon runner could handle, his icy cerulean eyes thawing out for the first time in a long time.

He'd gotten so fast over the years, and he was going to get faster. His eyes turned to the sky, gazing up at the birds way up above. He wished he could fly. The birds up there couldn't be touched by anything, no need to fear others ganging up upon them and destroying them.

The wind blasted through his hair as he felt that strange energy well up within him again, blasting off the floor, flipping forward and leaping off the wall onto the roof.

' _Take to the sky...'_ He thought, a very small smile growing upon his face. It was a very strange feeling, one that he didn't have a word for, but he always felt it up here.

This was the only way that he felt free, going as fast as he could across the roofs. No civilian could get to him up here, and on most occasions the shinobi didn't bother with him. The only time that shinobi did bother with him...well, it didn't matter where he was, he wasn't safe. So it was something of a problem, as while jumping across rooftops attracted some attention, it wasn't anywhere as much of a hazard as walking down the street. The difference was that he couldn't out run most shinobi yet, whereas he could easily outrun most mobs, so long as they weren't reinforced by too many other civilians.

' _ **MOVE BRAT!'**_ Something screamed in his head as he took another leap, caught by surprise in mid-air as something drove into his ribs. The audible snap didn't even bother him as he went flying into a wall, a meaty thud sounding out as his head smacked into the bricks, slumping to the floor. The boy lay limply as four figures strode up to him, one pausing to rub at his knee.

"Little fucker's got a hard stomach. Feels like he near bruised my knee."

"Oh quit your bitchin' Yatsu. You can take out your grief on him now, same as we're about to." A second one spoke up, stepping closer to the seemingly broken child. Naruto's hand tightened on the battered kunai that he'd pulled out right after he'd been hit, and had hid beneath his body. Just a step closer.

The man unknowingly obliged, leaning down in order to wrench him up. The blonde boy moved in an instant, his hand rocketing up to dig the kunai deep into his eye, a savage snarl upon his face as he bolted immediately afterward, barely feeling the brutal pain in his ribs. Five feet...ten feet...twenty feet as his feet pounded onto the unforgiving cement as the three men stared in shock at their now dead companion. It didn't last long as the man who had originally spoken suddenly appeared in front of him, a fist slamming into his nose.

The boy didn't even feel it, paid no heed to the blood spattering the dark brown t-shirt he'd been given by the lying old man, nor to the spatters on the ground. Instead he dug down inside him, the strange strength welling up inside him again as his lips curled back, a guttural snarl leaving the child's mouth. It was unnatural enough that even the four seasoned shinobi were unnerved.

"You really are a demon, aren't you?" One of them asked as they moved faster than he could react to, a long kunai stabbing through his shoulders and digging into the wall.

"Guess what trash?" The man continued, his voice low and cultured when compared to the rough tones of the other three.

"We're gonna fuckin' destroy you!" One of the others cried joyfully, the foul scent of cheap alcohol washing over the bloody blonde. Naruto didn't react to any of it, his icy eyes just glaring darkly at them, his entire frame taunt with restrained energy. He'd spent years fighting back against the inevitable; there was no way in hell that he was finally going to fall to a useless group of drunks! Not after he'd finally begun to learn, to understand what was going on around him. The trash that reluctantly taught him words, such wonderful things, tainted by the sheer hatred that the trash exhibited. That didn't matter, all that mattered was the fact that he was able to steal some of the "blooks" from the trash that was supposed to be teaching him and was finally getting close to learning the real reason why he was hated.

"Why don't you react, Kyuubi?" The only sober one amongst the group asked the boy, a sadistic smirk growing on his face as his hands caressed the boy's cheek.

"I must admit, I quite like the blonde hair now demon. And the fact that you're clean..." The man was shoved roughly away by one of the other men, the drunken slur once again assaulting Naruto's senses.

"Don' ya pull any of that chile' fuckin' shit aroun' me man..." The slow, rambling speech gave Naruto the time he needed to prepare himself, his half-closed eyes glowing slightly as he waited for one of them to make the mistake of leaning closer again. It would happen soon. The other man regained his balance, shoving the drunkard back, a whole lot harder.

"Shut the hell up. I'm the only proper shinobi here _genin._ If it wasn't for me the lot of you would have never even been able to find the demon, much less find a way to take him out. Know your place. Besides, even with as cute as this trash is, I wouldn't sully myself with his demon flesh." The soft rubbing of the pinned child's hair told a different story, as did the admiring glances that he paid the boy's body. The drunken man shook his head disgustedly.

"Whatever man, I'm sobering up out of disgust. I had a nice buzz going on too. I'm going to get some more Sake; you go right ahead and fuck him if you want to." The man touching Naruto waved off the other, kneeling before him, a strange smile on his face as the other men looked on with sadistic glee. They normally would find this man disgusting, but the demon deserved all of this and more.

"I suppose he's right though...I've always wondered what it would be like to fuck the nice, tight hole of a demon like you." He said as he kneeled before him, one hand roaming the boy's chest as the other played with his hair. Naruto had been touched like this before, far to many times to count. It was a very good distraction, and even now the man was going to die.

"After all, we all know about that healing of yours...I wonder...could I split your ass in two, pull out, and fuck a nice, fresh virgin again?" The hands grew greedier, nails dragging across Naruto's scalp and chest, his head leaning closer as his voice dropped to a whisper.

"I quite like that idea...breaking in a nice, eternally fresh demon slut for my own personal use. Train up that tight throat of yours to suck cock like the cum-dump you always have been..." The man made his first and last mistake then, leaning to close in a desire to kiss the boy, to mark the demon as his...

Naruto's head flashed forward, shattering the man's nose as his head snapped back, Naruto leaning further forward, as far as he could, his teeth finding the man's neck. The nameless man didn't even have time to understand what had happened before Naruto's teeth clamped on his neck, the blonde ripping his head back with every bit of strength he could muster.

"Holy fuck..." One of the shinobi passed out from the sheer _certainty_ of death as the young boy _ripped_ the man's throat out with naught but his teeth, blood spraying everywhere, Naruto spitting out half of the man's esophagus as he moved to free himself. The shinobi were stunned by the sheer brutality of the boy, to the point where they didn't notice the boy's formidable jaw closing around the hilt of one of the long kunai buried in his shoulder, wrenching it out easily and spitting it into the hand that came up to grab it.

He ignored the pain with practiced ease as he tore out the kunai buried in his other shoulder, easily turning the blades on his stunned captors. The man who had wanted to renew his buzz never made it out of the alley, the four dead bodies littering the ground, Naruto's icy gaze not even slightly disturbed by this point, not even by the blood that he could still taste. This was by no means the worst that had ever happened to him, but nor was it the best thing either. It was simply another day, and it was treated as such.

He went back to the roofs, showing a bit more caution now that he had already been attacked once, not wanting it to happen again. It was quick enough to head home, to retreat into the only truly safe haven he'd ever had, even if he knew it wouldn't last.

Not even the night.

~ **The Shinobi Way** ~

A mighty force awoke deep within a tightly sealed jail, crimson orbs slowly sliding open as pain assaulted its senses. It had felt significantly worse within it's time; even in it's time within this particular jail. Still, this pattern was becoming most disturbing. It had not survived the death of its creator, thousands of years of war, the betrayal of those close to it, and the _war_ to die here, in this pathetic prison. Unfortunately there was nothing it could do.

It snorted in resigned humor as it glared at the gates to the prison, an obsidian energy flaring up briefly in response to the crimson tide of fury that slammed into it. A useless rage against the might of a being that was so incredibly powerful that even it's own titanic might was nothing in comparison. At least not with the way that it had been weakened. Before it might have stood a chance.

Millennium of fighting and learning, of becoming the strongest and most knowledgeable in the world. All of it wasted. Hell, it was a Master, it was _the_ Master when it came to the art that imprisoned it. This was why it knew the futility of fighting this. Hands down the most genius work it had ever come across, and that was saying something. All that it could do was answer the call that was made for it's power.

And did it answer, the crimson tide flaring up and vanishing, the being knowing instantly what it was being called for, no matter how bad it was in the long term. If it wanted to survive, it couldn't afford to be stingy with it's power. Still, this couldn't last. It's power was toxic to others, even if it's current prison was adapting better than the previous two. Years had already been cut off of the prison's lifetime.

Yes, something needed to change, and as crimson eyes slowly closed again, it knew exactly how to change it.

~ **The Shinobi Way** ~

A brown eye glared furiously at a young blonde boy leaping across Konoha, more anger within him then he could remember. Why was the Jinchurikki being treated like this? In fact, what in the nine hells was Sarutobi thinking?

All the anger left a tightly muscled frame in a light sigh. There was nothing that he could do to prevent the Hokage's movement's at the moment. If he had found the boy earlier...No, better to say if he had thought to _look_ for the boy earlier. The past few years had been amongst the busiest outside of a war he'd ever been. He'd simply made an assumption based upon Sarutobi's previous behavior, one where the Jinchurikki would grow to be an S-Rank shinobi over time, just like the previous two. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Why Sarutobi had made the choices he did, Shimura Danzo would never know. In fact, if the grizzled veteran didn't know better, he would say that his old "friend" was intentionally trying to weaken Konoha. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that he knew better, Danzo could never truly decide.

The man shook off all of his pointless thoughts, his one good arm going through seals by his side. It was long past time that the Jinchurikki started to grow strong...and even if it wasn't, there was no way that Danzo could stand by and let a child be destroyed like this. Naruto's childhood was already gone, had been gone since damn near the moment he'd left the womb.

Danzo might not be able to interfere directly, but he was more than capable of assisting Naruto on the sidelines. He'd arranged for a problem with one of the more...impulsive merchant's suppliers. This man was quite vocal in his detraction of Konoha's Jinchurikki, and more importantly had passed information about some of Konoha's defenses to Suna.

The facts that the information was false and the man had been being manipulated for Konoha's benefit were irrelevant. The man had betrayed Konoha, and as such he deserved a little bit of pain. A "thief" stealing a remarkable amount of product from his store would be a very small price to pay. After all, the man was still useful, and it was nothing that wouldn't be replaced by the civilian's insurance. Danzo couldn't help a snort at the thought of that. "Insurance." The man was going to get bent over and raped by an ox by the people he'd been paying for years. That was all that Civilian Insurance was after all, a bunch of greedy bureaucrats who did everything they could to avoid shelling out so much as a single Ryo.

The problem, naturally, lay with getting Naruto into the store and convincing him to steal everything that would be necessary for him to begin to flourish. Books, scrolls, tools, weapons, clothing; the list was easily an entire scroll if he chose to write it all down. And, unfortunately, he had to in order to ensure that anything that the merchant did not have would be placed there. Ensuring that a child with inadequate education would grow up to be strong, despite many doing everything they could do to prevent it, without the immense resources that he had managed to arrange for his own force? It was difficult; quite frankly it would be difficult enough even without the fact that the boy could only carry so much. And while supply scrolls could easily handle that, the fact remained that Naruto would need to be taught to use them and it had to all be carefully planned to avoid arousing any suspicion from their ever so wise Hokage and then...

Danzo pushed away the thoughts before he regained the headache that had swiftly turned into a migraine earlier. It would do him no good to relive the problems he'd been having. Simply put it had been a challenge, one he hadn't had to deal with for years, not since he'd ensured a steady supply for his forces.

The last step was what he was doing now, a very insidious genjutsu, designed specifically for this one purpose. Danzo found himself going over it all again in his head, taking a moment to mentally curse his terrible habit of going over everything two or three times before finally allowing whatever it was that held his attention to rest. One of the smaller consequences of running a shinobi organization for over thirty years.

The genjutsu was not a normal illusion; instead it was more along the lines of a series of suggestions. Normal illusions wouldn't work on Naruto anymore. The Kyuubi's chakra was flowing through Naruto's body at a far greater rate than it should have been at this age, and the presence of a secondary chakra ensured that any normal illusion would be broken before it ever had the chance to take effect. This genjutsu affected the surrounding's instead of a single person, making certain options seem safer and quicker than what they would usually appear.

Danzo had to be very careful not to overdo the suggestions though; the boy was incredibly observant, and rightfully so considering all that he had been through. After all, just earlier in the evening he'd avoided death at his own apartment from a civilian that was waiting inside, the man having found out where Naruto lived thanks to working in the Kage tower. Naruto had noticed that his home was compromised by a single thing.

Fingerprints on the cool metal of the doorknob.

The doorknob had been spotless when he left, and now there were fingerprints on it? Naruto had simply turned around and entered through the window, behind the civilian, who had naturally taken one or two drinks to steady himself for his upcoming encounter with the "demon." And likely a few more to even work up the courage to break into the apartment in the first place. So the civilian had died, quickly and cleanly, Naruto dumping the body in an alley. Considering the district he was in nobody would look twice at another dead body.

If any of the suggestions were too strong then Naruto wouldn't follow them, and if they weren't strong enough he wouldn't obey them. Life would be so much easier if things would just go Danzo's way for once instead of everyone being out to prevent his goals. It would be wonderful if it would happen just once in his life before he died.

Danzo watched as Naruto began to fall under the influence of the genjutsu, his survival instincts still being stronger than the suggestions as he only wound up taking one suggestion out of every three. That was a higher percentage than the old shinobi had expected, to be completely honest. Perhaps this genjutsu would be more useful on more people than he'd thought. Not even most shinobi were as observant as Naruto was. Some jonin might be, but the only chunin or lower who could match Naruto would be ones with similar childhoods. Sadly enough, it happened, though the only ones who were anywhere near as bad as Naruto's were other Jinchurikki.

The man couldn't help a smile as Naruto broke into the shop, the genjutsu making it seem as though it was the safest option at the moment. After all, he could either remain on the streets and risk a mob rising up, or he could slip into a closed store by easily picking the lock. Inside the store he would be safe for the moment, and he could even find a fair number of things that might help keep him safe, clothing that might keep him warm, perhaps even a weapon better than the crappy kunai he had been forced to use! A very dangerous genjutsu, but a very useful one. Pity it took so much chakra to maintain for more than a few moments.

~Break~

Naruto made no noise as he entered a store, a great deal of metal gleaming in the moonlight that followed him in. This was not a good idea. Most shop owners lived above their stores, and if the second story he'd seen was any indication, this one was no different. Unfortunately this was the lesser of two evils. Either he entered the store and risked the fury of one man, or he headed further down the street where there was a gang hanging out. Naruto had considered the alley's briefly, only to find several drunks loitering about. It was better not to cause a commotion this late at night, so he'd chosen to take shelter in the nearby store.

He still wasn't sure why he'd decided to enter; the same occasion had occurred multiple times before now and he'd never chosen to risk drawing shinobi ire by breaking into a store. It just…seemed like a better idea now. The problem was, the more he thought about it the more he liked the idea, which was not something he was used to feeling. On the rare occasions in which he'd actually broken into a store, he'd always chosen the food stores, places he could get a good meal for once and the miniscule amounts of food he needed would not be noticed as missing until the next evening, where it would be assumed stolen during the day. Instead he had chosen to enter what looked to be a weapons shop this time. That…didn't make sense to him, especially since there was a food store just two doors down.

Naruto shook off the thoughts as he looked around; taking care to check for any evidence that somebody was currently there. It was a store; there were people in it all day long, touching everything they could put their hands on, so he had no way of knowing if there were any recent movements in the store. It wasn't like his entire apartment building where he could tell if someone had been in there just based off of the disturbance of the dust that seemed to coat everything.

The quickest and easiest way to tell would be to go upstairs and check; however, if he did that then he would be exposing himself to a potential shinobi. The people who ran stores with this many weapons in them were typically retired shinobi, living just long enough in the perilous business to retire with a decent amount of money. They would then open up a store to support them during the rest of their life, using contacts made from their years as shinobi to gain higher quality goods at discount prices. If that was the case in this store, and the owner was a former shinobi, going up there was just begging for a beating. Even with how stealthy he had learned to be over his time fleeing from everything, he did not trust himself against a sleeping shinobi, retired or not, and definitely not if the owner was one of the shinobi know as "jonin." Those were the only kind of shinobi he was no match against. Those known as ANBU were above even the jonin, but they rarely attacked him, whereas a jonin was with every mob that found him nowadays.

The safer choice, as well as the one that would be more beneficial in the long run, was to remain quiet down here, take a quick look around for anything that might be useful, and then get out of here before the owner ever woke up.

Naruto shook his head; that made no sense! If he stole anything from a weapons shop then they would know immediately! And even if the owner had no clue who had stolen the stuff, they would likely accuse Naruto of doing anyways, just out of spite. And the, likely quite biased, shinobi that would investigate the "honorable civilian's" claims would make sure to find some of the missing merchandise in Naruto's possessions, whether or not there was anything there to begin with.

There was another option though; if the owner wasn't there than he could get away with the theft of quite a few items. A quick glance around showed gleaming kunai, needles, swords, knives, and a fair number of those nasty tags that blew up when they were ignited. Naruto had found himself on the wrong end of those three times to many, nearly losing his arms and his legs, and then his head. It had taken three months for his hair to grow back after another one of the tags had simply blasted fire at him instead of an intense explosion like the others.

Naruto began to frown at himself, shaking his head again. Something wasn't right here, he was sure of it. The problem was, every time he began to unravel what was going on, he had another idea.

Besides, what could stealing some, perhaps even a lot of equipment hurt? He had many places across Konoha that he could scatter them until he had decided it was safe to recover. It might take a while, but he would be a significantly better off if he stole from this store. The blonde managed to convince himself to take a better look around, his eyes roving over every single item in the store.

It was a decent size; whoever owned the store was obviously influential and successful if the amount of clean, orderly, and high-quality product present upon the shelves was anything to judge by. And the owner had obviously just received a fairly large shipment, and had decided to close up shop before he or she could finish unpacking everything. So, naturally, it was to those boxes that Naruto ventured first. If he was going to go through this then it would make much more sense to steal already packaged items than the loose items around the store. He could look at those later anyways.

The boxes in the back corner of the store contained a massive amount of product; based on what he'd seen in the other stores where there had been people working overnight this store was going to be adding many new items to its shelves.

There were many weapons of the same quality that were on the shelves; the kunai knives that had stabbed into him so many times were in great prominence. The same with those small needles that Naruto had so much trouble seeing to begin with. Then there were those metal stars, the big ones and the small ones, and then the really big ones that had a nasty habit of being imbedded into his spine if he wasn't careful. Several of the "launchers" that allowed civilians to defend themselves against bandits, able to launch out weapons far faster than the weaker muscles of the civilians could ever hope to throw them, and far more accurately as well. Naruto knew that from hard-earned experience. Some shinobi used them as well, but they were mainly used by the traveling civilians.

At least, that was what the manifest said, helpfully produced with small pictures so that the reader knew what they were dealing with in case they were not familiar with shinobi weaponry. The fact that that was there was making Naruto suspicious…it was almost as if they were created in mind for someone who had trouble reading. In fact, if he didn't know better…

Naruto shook off the thoughts, instead going through the many sealing scrolls inside the boxes. It was easy to load them all into one of the packs that the store had, Naruto now having more than enough weaponry to last him. Clothing was next, Naruto wishing for something other than the tatty rags that he usually wore; the old man that occasionally visited him would bring him other clothing, clothing that was so impossibly bright that it hurt Naruto's eyes. For some strange reason the man had taken his disgusted gasp at the mere sight of a bright orange as a signal to give more of the color he apparently "liked." Was the man trying to get him killed? Wearing bright orange in the middle of a village that despised everything about him from his head to his feet was _begging_ for death, far too literally for his tastes.

There was quite the variety of clothing, from garish colors to the more neutral tones that Naruto preferred. As such, a decent amount of gray, dark brown, black, and deep blue were folded into small sizes and fitted into the bag, taking up as little room as possible.

The more Naruto thought about all of the stealing, the more he liked the idea. Attempting to purchase things with the money that the Hokage gave him was suicide; he didn't even have to test that idea in order to know that it was true. To place himself in the middle of an open area, with potential hostiles all around, and then turn his back on them to try and buy something? That would only result in a great deal of pain. No, stealing his food would be much more useful. It would also save the money for his missions outside of the village, likely the only times that Naruto would be able to buy quality items without being overcharged, kicked out of the store, or, much more likely, killed.

A few more objects went into Naruto's bags; amongst them were a surprising amount of books. He'd had to start a second bag just for the sheer number of books that he stole. He might not be able to make out all of the titles now, nor would he be able understand most of the topics within for a while, but the simple fact remained that he'd learned something very early on.

Words were power. Whether written or spoken, a single word could have more sheer _power_ than a thousand kunai. Naruto had been stabbed by hundreds of kunai, been beaten by hundreds of people. It was always a word that caused them though. A single muttered "demon" or "trash" had more strength than any shinobi, for it was the words of some that drew others into attacking. And a single screamed "shinobi" would bring people that could kill him to the scene of whatever attack was occurring in under a minute.

Then there were the labels. If he had been able to read earlier in life he could have avoided being poisoned so many times. While items like "blech" and "cloorox" had very distinctive smells, many of the things that they poisoned him with didn't. Fortunately Naruto had learned early on not to eat or drink what strangers gave him; that still didn't stop them from trying, growing cleverer as time went on. The more recent attempts had held completely odorless and tasteless poisons…well, he assumed they were tasteless. It wasn't like he'd tried them. Still, judging by the look on the older woman's face, and the way she had swiftly died after he'd forced her to drink it told him that it was poisoned.

So yes, Naruto took every single book he could fit into the bag. He wasn't able to read them yet, but he was getting better. And hopefully he would be able to read them soon, and they would all be useful to his continued survival.

Next up were the launchers; kunai, needle, and shuriken. They could provide a wonderful distraction, perhaps even a lethal one if necessary. It would enhance his chances for survival; they were designed to be easy to hide.

Naruto had stolen enough in his mind, more than enough in fact. It would be difficult to get everything to one of his hideouts. He was about to leave when one more thing caught his eye. The gleaming metal of the swords shone in the scant moonlight, stealing Naruto's attention immediately. One of those would help. His fists were only so effective; in fact he often wound up breaking them against his aggressors, usually futilely. There was much a good weapon could do to aid him, the least being that fewer people would attack him if he walked around armed. He would have to answer the irritating old man's questions, but there was no way that the man would be able to take the sword away from him. He might try, but if the man was half as interested in getting Naruto to trust him as he seemed to be then the man would fail.

The only question would be what kind of blade to get. Anything longer than he was tall was instantly removed from the list of potentials; he was fighting to survive, not trip and slice himself in half. And while the shorter blades were nice and easy to conceal, that was the problem. They lacked the reach, power, and intimidation factor of the longer blades. He needed something reliable, sturdy and long enough that he could even use it after he'd grown.

The answer came in the form a simple blade that he saw, sitting in the middle of the section, hanging by the hilt from a peg, resting in its sheathe. The blade itself was just under 24 inches long, with an additional seven for the simple cloth-wrapped hilt. A small, circular guard separated the double-edged blade from the hilt, Naruto admiring the way that it gleamed as he drew the straight blade.

' _This is…_ ' Naruto's limited vocabulary couldn't create a word for what he felt towards the simple, unassuming blade. It was perfect. While heavy, the weight was comforting, and the fact that the hilt was large enough for both of his hands ensured that he would be able to put all of his strength behind each and every blow. The length was a touch to long for him at the moment, but he knew that he would grow into it. Besides, so long as he worked on how fast he could get it out of the sheath it would be fine. He'd be working hard to learn to wield it after all.

He left the store, taking several moments to ensure he wouldn't be setting off any form of alarm before leaving, causing a sweating man in the shadows to sigh in relief.

~Break~

Danzo shakily wiped the sweat from his brow, panting slightly. That boy was impossible! He'd broken the genjutsu no less than _seven_ different times before he'd ever gotten in the store, and then an additional two before Naruto had ever started stealing stuff! Danzo was getting dangerously low on chakra, especially considering the lack of control he'd been experiencing recently. What was with the boy? Even all that he'd been through shouldn't cause such ability to resist genjutsu. Only the most observant of shinobi…

Danzo sighed, resting his head in his hand in irritation at his own stupidity. Of course Naruto would be more than capable of seeing through it eventually; the boy had likely been forced to become as observant as any ANBU. However, that still didn't account for the sheer number of times he'd broken it. All Danzo could do was chalk it up to the fact that the boy held the Kyuubi within him, because anyone with no control over their chakra should be easy prey for genjutsu. Perhaps the second chakra source made him resistant. Something to look into at least.

Still, he was surprised at how much Naruto had taken. The books and clothing was one thing. Stealing every single storage scroll, a ninjato, and those launchers. Danzo hadn't actually planted those. He had expected the boy to only take what had been suggested; instead the genjutsu was mostly thrown off to benefit his own interests. The aged and scarred shinobi could appreciate that.

Fortunately his Root had cleared an easy way to the one of the very few hiding places of the boy's that they had managed to find. And he knew that the Jinchurikki had at least a dozen more, those being the only ones that Root had been able to triangulate even a rough estimate of the location for. Danzo was definitely one for giving credit when credit was due; Naruto was growing up to be one sneaky young man. He could only wonder how he would develop in the future.

~Break~

Both Sarutobi and Shimura continued to keep a close eye upon the young Jinchurikki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, though one was many times more successful than the other. They watched as Naruto somehow managed to thrive despite all that was arrayed against him. They watched, one with growing concern and the other with growing pride, as Naruto successfully killed more and more of those that attacked him. It was only a year before the boy had managed to kill his first jonin; six months more before the first of the so-called elites known as the Anbu. Neither of them knew how the boy had done it; the simple fact was that he had. Once that had happened the attacks had stopped, instantly ceasing in a single moment. Nobody wanted to mess with the powerful demon who could take on Anbu-level shinobi, even if all that the civilians knew of the murdered Jonin. Instead the problems that the boy faced turned into simple shunning, and a constant refusal to allow him in any store, well within their rights as the store-owners.

The boy never really minded. He gained all that he needed through a series of late night raids, and never took more than he needed for however long the "supply run" was intended to last for. Not that anyone was able to prove just who it was. Many different civilian shop-owners had attempted to bring the increasingly-well read Naruto into court in an attempt to throw him into jail, despite the fact that there was no evidence to be found. Unfortunately for the poor shop-owners, Danzo had been able to ensure that the only judges in the court were at the very least fair; more often on his payroll. But even then no fair judge would have ever been able to pin anything upon the boy. The young up-and-coming shinobi had learned every single law that Konoha had to offer, and had used it to great effect. Where Naruto had gotten the law books, and why he'd started studying them nobody knew. One day when he was called into court he'd simply spouted off several different harassment laws, as well as the ones listing the punishments for continuous false charges, and the accusations had stopped. They didn't want to be penalized by some of the very laws that they had helped put into place.

Even despite their knowledge of the boy, neither of them knew anywhere near everything about him. They didn't know how strong he'd gotten, or how he managed to kill the Anbu that had come after him. That simple fact disturbed the both of them, each planning to find out more about him in their own way. One would be mildly successful, the other a complete failure.

The only thing that was certain regarding the young Kyuubi Jinchurikki was a simple fact. The boy was growing up to be someone who was not to be trifled with, and if the boy continued on his current path?

Who knew how the world would change in response to him?


	3. Setting the Stage

The Shinobi Way Rewrite Ch. 2

Sweet smelling smoke drifted throughout a room as a very powerful man exhaled, his hooded eyes gazing at the glowing embers in his cherry-wood pipe, his teeth idly nibbling the stem. Today had been stressful; he'd earned a few moments of calm relaxation. Things were going quite well for him recently in some things, and horribly in others. It was always this way, one of the many, many consequences that power brought. You couldn't have a single good thing without having something negative in return. Hell, even the simplest of decisions were like that nowadays. He couldn't buy his tobacco from one story without others getting offended that he didn't think their quality was sufficient for him to buy for them. He'd just had to write a page long letter reassuring a store-owner that yes he still liked the store, no he hadn't been disrespected by any of the employees, and no he didn't want the man to lower his prices.

Honestly, the store had simply been out of the particular tobacco he wanted, it was no big deal. He had simply wanted something different, something with a better taste and smell than the usual bitterness that became the aftertaste after he'd managed to work his way through a pipe full of his preferred tobacco. Not from the tobacco itself, but much more often the events that occurred right as he began to puff upon it. Speaking of...

Three sharp raps upon the door heralded the shinobi that he had summoned. This was going to be one of those things that turned his tobacco bitter in his mouth.

"Hokage-sama." The man's voice was warm, but lazy, every syllable seeming to take a moment to come out. But that was the way that the man had changed after all that he had gone through, and when compared to some of his other shinobi...this really wasn't that bad. Even if he was summoned three hours ago.

"Kakashi. I summoned you three hours ago." It would be more accurate to say that he'd told Kakashi to be here at five p.m., knowing full well that he wouldn't show up until at least seven, likely eight. The man merely shrugged, one of his often used excuses springing to his lips.

"Apologies Hokage-sama, but a black cat crossed my path and I wound up having to take the long way around." The man merely frowned at the insolent Jonin. To think that this little show of rebellion could have been so very easily avoided if he had just let Kakashi do what he'd wanted to do. In fact, looking back now, it would have likely been so much better for the village to give into Kakashi's request. It would have been easy to find ways around the civilians...no, better not to think about that now. What's done is done, or so the saying went.

"Save the excuses Kakashi. You know why you're here." All signs of laziness vanished from the tall man, his single eye hardening and his back straightening, steel present in his entire frame. An eternal reminder that Kakashi was hands down one of the strongest shinobi in the village was perfectly clear in his eye, the man's razor sharp intellect dissecting everything that he knew about the meeting.

"You wish to discuss Naruto again." It wasn't a question, even though Sarutobi nodded in response. Kakashi resisted sighing; the man had been trying to go over his plans for training Naruto ever since they had first made the agreement; they couldn't risk Konoha's Weapon growing strong and proceeding to abandon the village, could they? Of course Sarutobi never worded it quite like that.

"Indeed." Kakashi stood in silence for a moment, waiting for the man to continue. Unfortunately for his patience, Sarutobi was no hurry, far to eager to enjoy what was left of his tobacco before his admittance would turn it bitter upon his tongue. Alas, even the best of things must end, and so to did the Hokage's desire to wait, the sweet scent of the smoke becoming far to strong for his tastes.

"I...made a mistake all those years ago." Kakashi's breath caught in his throat at the admission, not daring to hope that the man meant what Kakashi believed he did. For it was very rare that a Kage, the leader of village, would ever go back upon their word, regardless of whether they were wrong or not.

"Shunning Naruto has resulted in no-one ever knowing the boy's real strength, and for some reason he has outright refused to trust me. I still don't know why...but speculating about it is pointless now. You managed to convince him to trust you, even if it was far less than any of us would have preferred; you should be able to do it again, especially if you are training him as well. You _will_ give full reports on his strength, psyche, loyalty to the village, and any abnormal behavior that may occur. In return I will not allow the civilian council to place both the Uchiha heir and the Haruno heir on your team." Kakashi frowned, the expression causing his mask to crumple. He knew quite well that this was an order; Sarutobi wouldn't hesitate to go back on his word, wouldn't hesitate to refuse Kakashi the right to train Naruto if he didn't agree to the man's demands. There was very little leeway involved when the man gave an order, but this one held both reward and punishment. For the moment he was still allowed to train Naruto as he desired, but with the Haruno on his team things would move along slower.

It was nothing against the Haruno; going strictly by the academy scores, the girl had the potential to be a fairly skilled jonin in the future, perhaps even an elite in a certain field. The problem with the girl was that she didn't train on her own time, and it would take a very long time in order for her to reach the physical fitness level of even the weaker of the two boy's, the Uchiha. Don't get him wrong; Sasuke Uchiha was an excellent example of the physical fitness level required for a genin, and even some chunin were not as physically adept as the boy was. But Uzumaki Naruto was another story entirely, and there was quite simply no way in hell that he would be able to get the Haruno up to Naruto's level in any less time than a full year of intense training and a strict, calorie rich diet. Something the immature girl would never even consider.

"That will interfere with gaining Naruto's trust. I can quite easily report on his psyche, loyalty, and abnormal behavior, but any report upon his strength holds the potential to shatter everything." Sarutobi's brown eyes darkened, demanding an explanation from the man. Kakashi continued, his priorities still on what was best for Naruto, but also on actually ensuring that the boy trusted him. If Naruto couldn't trust him...if the only thing he hadn't destroyed didn't trust him...what was he worth?

"Sir, with all due respect, this is a _shinobi_ village." The stare that his Hokage gave him had cold sweat beginning to roll down the back of his neck, the quick flash of irritation present in those dark brown eyes reminding him just strong this man was.

"There's almost no such thing as a secret here; all information is to be bartered to gain an advantage over others. There are still many who desire to harm Naruto in this village; they've simply suppressed that desire because he is to much of an unknown. If certain shinobi learned of just what Naruto was capable of; his movements, his techniques, his thoughts...if they then used this knowledge against him and he survived it...how many suspects would he have? There is no way that he would ever trust me again." Sarutobi's eyes narrowed, killing intent pressing down upon Kakashi like a mountain,

"Are you saying that I would sell information about Naruto to people who would hurt him?" Kakashi was forced to stoop slightly under the pressure before he found his own strength, the steel pressing into his spine enough for him to straighten up, his own desire to kill any who might threaten Naruto flaring outward, fighting off Sarutobi's strength.

"Yes. You sold out his apartment by allowing one of your former secretaries to know about it. Of course, you were "furious" that she had broken confidentiality and had told someone about it, but the simple fact remained that you allowed her to lean about it. I have no doubt that he had multiple attacks on his own home before he managed to kill a jonin." Sarutobi's dark brown eyes glared at the lightly sweating Kakashi for several moments before he finally eased off, unable to deny the truth of the matter, and Kakashi was too valuable to...persuade...into seeing things his way. A large problem with shinobi of great skill, for once they attained that skill they were notoriously set in their beliefs, and it would take a long period of reconditioning to ever change the ways that Sarutobi often found himself cursing, from not only Kakashi but others as well, such as Might Guy, Jiraiya, and even some of his Anbu. Each of their antics were ridiculous by themselves; when you added that into the sheer stubbornness that it took achieve great power Sarutobi even found himself cursing his own ways sometimes.

It was only that remembrance, the simple fact that even Sarutobi had points he would never so much as _bend_ on, that saved Kakashi from having to fight to train Naruto. When it came to all the missions that Kakashi took, all of the power that the younger man wielded, with great skill in fact, a few small concessions that were already going to be made was nothing. While the continued disobedience was troubling, it was only in regards to this single thing; Naruto. When balanced against the many S-ranked missions that Kakashi had taken, and would take in the future...well, what could Sarutobi really do except give in? But there was no way that he would give Kakashi all of what he wanted.

"Very well...unfortunately, the Lady Haruno has a great desire to see her daughter on the same team as the Uchiha heir, and as such I do not really have a reason to refuse her, nor do we have a ready substitute for her. The Hyuuga Heir isn't someone that we can have on a team with the Uchiha Heir and Naruto." Kakashi almost snorted at that; the mere thought of all that potential power and influence on a single team would have many forces across the Elemental Nations chomping at the bit, lining up and stabbing each other in the backs to get their hands upon them. Separated they were safer, by a great deal.

"The Yamanaka heir's temperament is unsuitable when held against the Uchiha and likely Naruto's own, and while the Haruno's isn't much better...hopefully she will at least manage to hold her tongue a bit better than the Yamanaka. By all reports the girl is a great deal quieter when not in the influence of her fellow classmates." Kakashi frowned at the Hokage's reasoning, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it. He would simply need to adjust his plans to encompass the young Haruno as well. It would take a great deal of effort to catch her up...but it was manageable.

"So Kakashi, I expect full reports on Naruto weekly, and this includes just what you are training him on." The shinobi bowed his head in acquiescence, turning to leave, only for a final word of warning from Sarutobi to stop him, right as his hand grasped the doorknob.

"Do not attempt to falsify any of the reports Kakashi; I will know, and the results will be...unpleasant." To the younger shinobi's credit, he only paused for a moment, only the tensing of his shoulders giving away the fact that the promise had unnerved him, Sarutobi smirking once the door shut. It was nice to know that no matter how problematic some of the brats could be, he was still on top, and still would be for quite some time.

Kakashi left the office in a cold fury, fighting the urge to flare his violent intent for the world to feel, especially as the secretary cut her eyes at him, her breath coming a little quicker at the sight of his lean form striding predatorily through the room. Even the anger that was as clear as the morning sun to anyone who could read body language did nothing to dissuade her, in fact it only seemed to excite her.

There was only one thing left that the man could do, and that was to keep doing his best to look out for Naruto...and now Sasuke. It was the very least that he could do, for both his Sensei and Obito.

~ **The Shinobi Way~**

Years. Years it had been since he'd first been placed in this cursed class, yet Naruto still felt the same way that he had originally. How, exactly, could potential shinobi, Clan Heirs in fact, be so extraordinarily loud? These were children who had been trained almost from birth to be the next generation of soldiers, ready to sacrifice their life for the village, and yet they were so noisy! They could be found so easily by even the least skilled of adversaries, and would be killed before they could even close their seemingly always flapping jaws by any chunin worth the title. At least he no longer had a headache every time he was exposed to it, having grown used to it over the years.

His half closed eyes opened as the door was pushed, their "instructors" entering the room, each of the shinobi-potentials finally quieting down, a simple background murmur of excitement all that remained. The young boy couldn't help a sigh of relief, one that went completely unnoticed from his place in the far corner, right by the wall. He'd originally thought that by the window was better; a quicker escape route that way, but he'd quickly learned his lesson. He hadn't been able to use his arm for an hour after that kunai had pierced straight through to the shoulder, cauterizing the wound with intense heat that Naruto had only recently learned to use himself. The chunin teaching the class had simply smirked up at him at the time, a single handseal releasing the sound-sealing jutsu. The man had wanted to hear him scream.

A bitter smile flashed in his eyes before it vanished, icy cerulean eyes returning to their typical blankness. There was so much he'd learned ever since that day, so many years ago now. Five years in fact, and he'd been training hard. Well, training was a rather mild term for what he'd done.

Naruto had pushed himself far past his limits every day; in fact he'd only been able to make it to one class out of every three, whether it was because of his training or because of outside interference. For a time it had been more of the latter, but for the past three years the only ones who had attacked him had been very drunk civilians, something that he was very thankful for. Civilians were infinitely easier to handle than even the weakest of shinobi.

The young boy had learned a lot over those five years, thanks in a large part to the fact that he no longer hesitated to steal what he needed. Weapons, equipment, food, medical supplies...anything that Naruto actually needed found it's way into his hands, one way or another. While he had tended to thievery in his early years, those had been limited to a little bit of food now and then, not a months supply from a supermarket overnight. It had been quite a relief, even with all of the trouble it had led to. Naruto had never gone hungry again, which had made it all worthwhile.

"Alright class, settle down." The Sensei's voice drew him from his thoughts, but only for a moment. The man's voice, one Umino Iruka, brought him into mind of all the things the man had failed to teach him, and the rest of the class as well. Even missing four classes a week Naruto knew quite well that the man hadn't taught the class all that they would need to survive, and that was reflected heavily in the mockery of the shinobi lifestyle that was the Graduation Exam.

"You will now be taking the Graduation Exam...QUIET DOWN!" Iruka was forced to yell to shut the class up at that announcement before he could continue, Naruto filled with cold disgust at the whole academy.

"As you all know quite well, this exam will consist of four parts. The written test will be passed out as soon as I finish the required reading." The teacher, aiming for humor, flapped the sheet of paper that he had brought in with him, getting the desired chuckles from the suddenly nervous children.

And children was exactly what they were.

It would be obvious from anyone who had any knowledge of what a shinobi was that these were not anywhere near what those vaunted soldiers should be. They were obnoxious, innocent, weak, and not even a single one of them had ever taken a life, something that would be happening almost as soon as the exam was finished if their respective Jonin-sensei were anywhere near as good as they should be.

"Now I expect you all to pass this exam; you all have done well in the past, and today should be no different. I look forward to working alongside you all in the future...as Shinobi of Konohagakure." There were maybe twelve children in the whole room who would pass the exam and continue on to a successful career at the moment, and seven of them were members of the various clans of Konoha. To think; there were twenty civilian children in the room, seven clan members, and Naruto himself, and all of twelve potential shinobi at the moment.

Many of them would fail, even if they passed this farce of an exam, simply because they _weren't prepared._ The rest would die.

"Gook luck." Their chunin teacher began to pass out the exam, a variety of questions over all the knowledge that had been imparted to them over the years. They started off simple, such as the first question.

1\. _What year was Konohagakure founded?_

The questions quickly got harder, at least from the perspective of the civilians.

15. _How many pounds of pressure does it take to snap the human neck?_

 _16\. What is the most efficient way to rip off the human ear?_

Naruto found himself somewhat amused at the suddenly green faces of those who read those questions, the young blonde wondering just what they thought they were getting into. Near the end of the fifty question test came the ones that would choose who passed and who failed; not in an immediate sense, because a passing score was a 75%. But in the future it would be the children who could answer these hypothetical questions without pause that would succeed in the world of Shinobi.

 _50\. You are surrounded by enemy shinobi of chunin level. They are better trained, better equipped, and in superior condition, and outnumber you 15 to 2. On the other hand you are lightly injured, exhausted, and are in possession of; a single kunai, two explosive tags, and three days supply of food. You are also burdened by a heavily injured comrade who is incapable of walking on her own, a former classmate. How do you survive?_

The best part of this question was that there was no real way to answer this question without having significantly more information, which wasn't provided. Things such as the weather, time of day, enemy equipment, the hypothetical comrades skills, any equipment that said comrade had, and the geographical environment. Winning this wasn't the point of the question, especially when a lightly injured shinobi should still be capable of killing up to a thousand civilians, depending on the injury and skill level of the shinobi.

The point to this question was to weed out those who wouldn't hold true to the Konoha mindset. This village was very big on teamwork. The Sannin were a huge example of this, having survived against a man who had at one point been acknowledged as the strongest shinobi in the world, a much coveted title that had since lain unclaimed. The students who answered, say, they would use their injured comrade as bait with the explosive tags in a suicide attack to take out as many as possible...well, it wasn't exactly a viable option. While sound strategically, it would show the beginnings of a callousness that Konoha didn't want in it's shinobi, and as such would be very carefully trained out of them. Brutality towards the enemy was one thing; towards the village itself? Unacceptable.

It didn't take long for Naruto to answer the questions, fighting the urge to answer truthfully on some of the questions. His original thought for question 50 would be to sacrifice the teammate, simply because it would be the quickest and cleanest way to deal with the problem. The potential was there to use the woman as bait and still end the fight with her alive as well, depending on the geography, so chances were it was the best answer as well Unfortunately, due to the many lectures on teamwork over the years from their chunin teacher, Naruto couldn't do that, therefore his answer wound up with using himself as bait after hiding his supposed comrade. That wasn't something that was likely to go well in the real world.

There were very few children in the room who managed the test well; in fact there was only a single person other than Naruto who didn't seem even the least bit bothered, and it wasn't someone he'd been expecting. Haruno Sakura, perhaps the one civilian in the room with the potential to have minor and immediate success in the shinobi world via her incredible chakra control, managed to blast through the test even faster than Naruto, as though she had the correct answers memorized. Considering she was first in the academic side of things, it was entirely likely that she did.

The second part of the exam was equally simple; an e-rank genjutsu was placed upon each student and it was a race against the clock to dispel it. Unfortunately this was to much for most of the class, as many wound up being unable to dispel the genjutsu in the five minute time frame. Most of them were under the impression that they were not under one the entire time. While time consuming, this was the simplest exam.

The third was the most difficult from the perspective of most of the children, being taijutsu. It was hands down the most important of the three main shinobi disciplines. When all the chips were down, all your chakra used, and you still had people to kill? Taijutsu was the only one of the big three that would remain useful.

Fourth and final was ninjutsu, specifically three ninjutsu that would provide the basis of all non-elemental jutsu in the future. The clone technique, the substitution technique, and transformation technique. A very small, and quite honestly pathetic foundation for the future when all things were considered. When Naruto had seen, and been on the receiving end of attacks that commanded the strength of multiple elements...well, those three were nothing. They weren't even useful for learning how to channel chakra, because it was a completely different set of lessons for those.

Overall, the exam was mainly useless, a complete farce of the future they would hold as shinobi. It was of little use other than determining a very small amount of the potential each student had. Something that had Naruto believing that there would be another exam afterwards, on a great deal tougher. It didn't matter; nothing really did after all. This was a village of liars, thieves, and murderers. The only things that mattered were the vices you savored in between the shadows.

"You pass Uzumaki." Naruto merely nodded to the chunin, not really caring that the man's attitude was far colder to him than any other of the students. Umino Iruka was a far better instructor than any of the Chunin before him, and had been significantly better at maintaining his professionalism when compared to them. The three techniques were nothing to him after all; the substitution had been mastered soon after he unlocked his chakra from pure necessity, the henge had allowed him to walk into the library with ease, and the bunshin had allowed him to fool many a drunken man.

He walked back out of the secluded classroom, easily ignoring the flash of anger that rose up at the sight of his Haori, and equally easily ignored the anger at the fact that he had passed. He could sense it from Mizuki, the chunin assistant to Iruka. The man had never liked him to begin with.

Naruto swept out of the classroom without a single one of the newly graduated ninja noticing him leave. This was the future generation of Konoha, one that held so much potential within it that even now forces all around the elemental nations were enacting plans to spy, sabotage, assassinate, steal, and seduce them. But for the moment all that they were, all that they could be, was nothing when compared to the one who walked out of the class without ever being noticed.

 **~The Shinobi Way~**

It would always be a source of disappointment to one Shimura Danzo just how far his friend had fallen. The leader of the strongest military force in the known world, with all the power and prestige of such a position at his fingertips, and what did he do?

He let it corrupt him.

Which was to be expected to a degree, the man supposed. After all, it wasn't like the Kage of any nation were beacons of light. The Nidaime Mizukage raped hundreds of his own genin. The Shodaime Tsukage constantly fucked his son's brains out, eventually placing the 8-year old boy in a permanent coma, and still continuing to use him. The Nidaime Hokage had a serious obsession with drinking the blood he ripped out of his enemies with his control over water. And the very worst of the lot, the Shodaime Raikage...well, he had fallen so far into depravity that even now he was held up as an example of the most fucked-up shinobi _ever_. The others had been acceptable, contained. His? There hadn't been a single woman in the village who hadn't been used for his satisfaction, to the point where he'd held no less than 50 jonin level women in reserve at all times just to satisfy his urges for a cum-dump. So yes, his vices were unacceptable, and as a result the Nidaime Raikage had broken him. Once your vices began to lower your villages strength, it was all over.

Danzo shook his head at the tangent his thoughts had gone off on, frustrated over his own lack of control, something that was unavoidable in all shinobi with large chakra reserves. The energy of life effected everything, after all, even the most disciplined of minds. His once great teammate, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had fallen. Danzo didn't know exactly when, and he sure as hell didn't know how one of the most moral men he had ever known had fallen so far, but he had.

It wasn't an obvious corruption, like with the ones he had been thinking of. No, Hiruzen's was much worse. It was a poison in the mind, ever so slowly ruining his competence and making himself question his own decisions. It had begun some time ago, right after the Kyuubi attack, and things had slowly spiraled down hill, for almost the entire village. And the man's poison, his failures...they all revolved around a single person. And it was for them that Danzo was currently walking towards the office of his former friend, even as his soldiers stacked the odds in that person's favor.

"Danzo...to what do I owe the pleasure, _old friend_?" They both had to fight the urge to laugh at the title, the poison present within enough to send lesser shinobi into unconsciousness, especially when combined with the desire for blood that the both of them were emitting. Neither of them could help taking a minute to observe the other, each seeing what they believed to be mere shadows of there former friends.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, an old man but by no means a weak one, in the formal Hokage robes with the hat upon his head, his cherry wood pipe resting lit in his mouth, elbows upon the oak desk and his hands clasped as he glared at Danzo. The Third Hokage, the longest standing Kage in the history of the elemental nations, the killer of two other Kage's and several dozen S-ranked ninja, and the beloved leader of the village of Konoha. The man had mastered every jutsu Konoha knew, even the one's known only by specific clans. Mastered, not just learned, and had even added his own improvements to many of them, the man truly deserved his title as the God of Shinobi, even his age had only made him wiser. His pedigree didn't just end there; having survived all three Shinobi Wars, wars that had seen the birth and destruction of entire nations, the man was more experienced than nearly all of the shinobi left alive, and even now was a serious contender for the title of "Strongest Shinobi." With a Mastery of Bojutsu, the Art of the Staff, a powerful Summoning Contract, and a mind that even now was sharp enough to pierce through nearly any veil, The Professor not only earned his titles...he surpassed them.

This was the man who led his village into the light, churning out policy after policy that, while seeming weak and almost imbecilic, actually wound up making his village stronger than any other. This Man commanded armies as easily as breathing, saw through deceptions like they were a light rain, and had guided his people through three titanic wars, far worse than any that had ever been seen before then. Three total wars, sending his people to fight and to die, never blinking an eye, but always coming out on top. This was a man who held fast to his beliefs, refused to accept defeat, and utterly crushed any resistance against him, all the while looking like nothing more than a doting grandfather. By any and all standards, this man was a legend, and a very powerful fighter.

Shimura Danzo, just as old as the other, but the years had been nowhere near as kind to him. Bandages covered half of his body, starting with the right side of his face and going all the way down, even his arm was covered in them, what was left of them at least. Even the many wrappings couldn't hide the scars littering his body, the most noticeable being the _X_ burned into his chin. His eye had been lost, his arm ruined, his leg crippled, and he walked with a cane, but this man was a shinobi to the end. Even the traditional white shirt and black robe that covered most of the bandages did nothing to obscure that all consuming _fact._ The cane hid his beloved sword, the robes held kunai, shuriken, and many other tools. His limp was real, but exaggerated, and his skills had only sharpened with time. He had mastered two elemental affinities, attaining more skill with them than his comrade ever had due to the man's focus on learning it all. Wind was his to wield, and fire danced with him with an eagerness that licked at everyone who'd ever fought him. Even despite his age and injuries the man was still a force to be reckoned with, and even now was still regarded as the single person in the village who could match the Hokage in combat. But all of this paled in comparison to his greatest accomplishment.

This was the man that had created an entirely new way of the shinobi lifestyle, had been the creator of the shadow wars and he remained the ultimate authority on that field. He ruled an organization of no less than six hundred shinobi, each and every one of whom loved the man like a father, and would not hesitate to lay down their lives for him. This man was the sole reason that a fourth shinobi war had not seen the end of Konohagakure, and when he spoke everyone with any amount of intelligence stopped and listened. This was a man who had killed seventeen S-ranked shinobi in a single engagement, had fought on the front lines of six different wars, and even now was in the middle of a seventh. This man did not hesitate, no matter the situation, because he had only a single goal in mind at any point in his history, and would only have a single goal in mind in the future. Other's revolved around it, but no matter how important, everything was considered less important than that single goal. " **Protect Konoha."**

These two were God's amongst a world of Titan's, were Leaders in a world of leaders, and both would do anything for their village, regardless of cost, consequence, or even personal desires. The difference between them, the single factor that kept these two from teaming up and taking down the world around them, were their methods. One was kind and generous, basking in the light and making people love him, yet so dangerously manipulative that loving son's would kill their mothers if he asked, and doting fathers would sell their daughters into slavery if this man said it was "for the good of the village." The other was his opposite in so very many way's. When one would give a little girl whose parents had been murdered a sweet, pat her on the head with a loving smile, and tell her that everything would be alright and that he would take care of her, all the while training her to kill the very person who had hurt her, the other would hand her a kunai, teach her to wield it with skill, and tell her why her parents had been killed, letting her make her own decisions, simply choosing to ensure that those decisions were in his favor. Both way's inspired fierce loyalties, and neither way was superior to the other, for both got the ideal results. The little girl would grow up to be a powerful shinobi under either's guidance, whether innocent or jaded it didn't matter, for this world is nothing but shades of gray. None could possibly choose which way was right, for all would choose the way that appealed to them, and that was why they were both so dangerous.

"A very simple reason, _old friend._ After all, it isn't every day that I hear about the village's weapon being stunted." A puff of smoke left the man's mouth, icy brown eyes glaring into the frozen gray eye in his worst friends face. The man wasn't fazed, simply seating himself into the of the visitor's chairs in the office. They both settled in for a long debate; both were stubborn, both had ammunition against the other, and worst of all...

Both thought they were right.

"Stunted? There is no reason at all for me to intentionally hinder the growth of a loyal shinobi to the leaf." Was the deflection, one that Danzo was easily able to pick up on, his hands resting on his cane as he stared at his best enemy.

"Then perhaps you would care to explain to me why you found it necessary to order Hatake-san to avoid training Uzumaki-san? I found that particular order most interesting, especially considering just what the child is. That sort of order would only cause additional problems if the child discovered it." This was one of the bigger points of contention between the two in recent years, and it was unavoidable. Danzo wanted the boy trained and loyal, and had dozens of methods in place to secure such loyalty. Hiruzen wished the boy trained and loyal as well, but refused to allow any risk to the village's civilian population. The Hokage puffed out several more breaths of smoke before he answered, considering everything that had occurred recently.

"I do not recall ever ordering Kakashi-kun to bypass the training of young Naruto-kun, I merely ordered that he report to me what he was being trained in." Danzo didn't let the dodge affect him, he had known that Hiruzen hadn't made it an actual order before coming in here...yet. This was merely a distraction, and if it worked...well, all the better for Konoha.

"Which is but a substitute for what you truly intend. How can any shinobi possibly train their students with any degree of success if they are reporting everything to someone else? The bond between a student and a teacher requires a monumental level of trust and respect; one that can never truly occur when one is forced to spy upon the other." Hiruzen frowned, irritated that the man's truthful statement had also been pointed out by Kakashi earlier. First point was to Danzo, but the battle was far from over.

"Than what would you suggest Danzo?" It was a mark of just how much the two hated each other now that there were no honorifics attached. The both of them were renowned for their politeness, even if it was merely a mask, and these little displays of rudeness were well marked. Dropping those honorifics implied that either they were close, but not close enough to warrant affection, or that they had grown comfortable in each others presence. While both were true, they had stopped being polite with each other a very long time ago.

"Before you make any suggestions however, keep this in mind. "Hiruzen glared at his colleague, his intent to kill rising sharply. It didn't even faze the other man.

"Naruto-kun is not a weapon for you to forge, nor is he eligible for your "retraining." Minato-kun made it quite clear that any loss of emotion could result in the Kyuubi gaining a greater influence upon his mind, perhaps even causing the boy to release the seal. So even if Root was still around, you would not be able to turn him into one of your tools without endangering the village." Danzo couldn't help the anger that spiked up within him at the mention of Root, his pride and without doubt his greatest accomplishment. The organization that would always keep the village safe, even if the village didn't know about their existence, the ones that sacrificed everything they had doing the dirty work that was necessary, but Konoha couldn't afford to be _seen_ doing. His children, the ones that he had had a hand in training, and the inheritors of the Will of Shadow, his answer to the Will of Fire.

"There are hundreds of way's that I could have ensured his loyalty Hiruzen, and none of them would involve taking away his emotions. If you had ever truly read my reports, you would have realized that any and all members of Root were only broken for a short time. They regained their emotions, and were stronger because of the experience." Hiruzen had never bothered to try and understand just what Danzo had been doing, a foolish move on his part. Once he had gotten to the part where Root members had their emotions suppressed for a time he had gone up in a rage, forcing the program to go underground. While it had been briefly revived under the Fourth's rule...well, the man's lead had been equally brief.

"Emotions are the key to a shinobi's success Danzo, and Naruto-kun's most of all." There it was again, intentionally giving Naruto an honorific when leaving off Danzo's. It wasn't like the man did this with all of his shinobi...but intentionally separating young "Naruto-kun" and "Danzo"? A childish attempt at one-upping the other man.

"We have had this argument a hundred times Hiruzen, and neither of us will budge on our beliefs. This is not why I am here." A hundred times was right; they had even fought over it, neither one ever truly winning. They were perfectly matched, each holding immense skills in their areas, and each had reasons to win.

"Then why are you here Danzo?" Hiruzen was growing irritated with this, irritated with Danzo's continuing stubbornness. They had fought out their arguments so many times that it was ridiculous, and he was tired of his former friend. Unfortunately, neither could rest while the other was still in power. Their ideals were too different, each believing that theirs were right.

"To make a suggestion, just as you requested." Hiruzen fought the urge to growl at the silky parry, not truly telling him why he was there. He waved his hand, his teeth worrying at the aged cherry wood of his pipe, causing the other to continue.

"I believe that Hatake should focus on Uzumaki, far more so than the Uchiha. The Uchiha is a far greater flight risk at the moment according to his psyche reports, and even now his inferiority complex will see anyone stronger than him as a stepping stone to power. Even you cannot deny that, nor would you be capable of keeping him inside the village if someone of great power promised him one-on-one training. Uzumaki has nowhere near that level of risk, and if Hatake focuses on him the boy will be far less likely to even dream of leaving. If Hatake instead focuses on the Uchiha, and Uzumaki continues to deal with the hatred of the village...well, the village has a great deal more to lose if Uzumaki turns traitor than if the Uchiha turns traitor." Hiruzen's frown deepened, acknowledging the point. Naruto held the Kyuubi; all of Sasuke's potential couldn't match up to the sheer power of that beast. Not that the young child seemed to hold anywhere near as much potential as his older brother had...

"Perhaps that idea would work for the best Danzo, but I cannot in good conscious order the neglect of any shinobi of the Leaf, much less a clan heir. Young Sasuke-kun could quite easily grow up to be one of our strongest Jonin if nurtured properly, perhaps even an S-rank. While Naruto-kun has the same potential, it is for the best that they are both nurtured. Who knows? Perhaps they will wind up forming a friendship. Both of them are broken in so many ways. Chances are they could help each other grow stronger, building up their loyalty to the Leaf whilst they are at it." Danzo shook his head in response, growing interested in the distraction now that it was proving fruitful. Perhaps he would come out of this with more than he had intended...

"You have read the psyche reports Hiruzen; you know as well as I do that they are completely incompatible. One is, by all accounts, a revenge-driven idiot who has somehow managed to develop both a superiority complex and an inferiority complex, something that up until this point was believed to be impossible without developing split-personalities. He is arrogant, unyielding, and possesses a remarkable degree in stupidity. The other is his opposite, a shinobi the likes of which haven't been seen since Kagenos." The mere mention of that man sent shudders down Sarutobi's spine; that man had been the real reason he shut Root down. That man was a monster of the highest caliber, and it had taken everything Sarutobi had to engineer his demise.

"He's already dangerous, someone who doesn't know how to hold back. Likely chunin level in skills with enough cunning to take down an elite Anbu. Icy cold, polite, professional, and almost emotionless." Each reminder only had Hiruzen fearing the rise of another "Shadow's hand", but it only got worse from there.

"On top of this he doesn't tolerate any threats to himself, answering even the most friendly of spars with lethal intent. If it wasn't for an entire squad of Anbu and the capabilities of a few highly trained Yamanaka we would _still_ be dealing with the fallout from the boy's first spar, in which he misunderstood the entire purpose and thought the Inuzuka clan heir was attempting to kill him, and responded with what he deemed appropriate force." Hiruzen winced at the reminder, knowing that the man was right.

"I would suggest putting him on the team with the Aburame heir, along with the Hyuuga." That surprised him, not understanding the man's reasons for the second suggestion.

"The Aburame I can understand and agree with, but why the Hyuuga? Judging by her reports she is shy to the point of stupidity, and highly unlikely to hurt anyone, even enemy shinobi. Added into this is a ridiculous obsession with Naruto because he once unintentionally saved her from a trio of bullies whilst her guardian at the time was attempting to kill him. All that that would result in is..." His eyes narrowed, glaring at the darker side of his own coin, matched by the glare of the one-eyed war-hawk, who was glaring at the darker side of _his_ coin.

"You wish to use the Hyuuga to tie him to the village. Her obsession with him would result in her losing all inhibitions around him, molding herself to fit his desires. Just like the Haruno's devotion to the Uchiha, except instead of rumors she would have the ice cold fact that what Naruto would likely want is an ice-cold, murderous bitch, who only shows her warmth to him." The very corners of Danzo's lips were tugged upwards for a moment before the man spoke, an acknowledgement that despite the man's different path he was still more than capable of seeing through the plots around him.

"When the Hyuuga finally convinces the Jinchurriki to fuck her, and it is when and not if, I have several different ways of ensuring that the boy is addicted to the feeling, and several ways of ensuring that he will only be able to obtain that feeling from the young Hyuuga." Danzo did smile now, edges of darkness curving what should have been a friendly expression. A very easy, and very useful method of obtaining someone's loyalty, whether male or female. Make them horny, and make them only able to be relieved by certain people. The original idea behind a sex slave, except in this case it worked a different cage. The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared, even if no small amount of amusement lingered in his eye at the fury that covered the face of his former friend.

"Unfortunately Hiashi-san would not take well to his daughter being used like that, otherwise it would be a valid method of control. I commend you for suggesting it, Hiruzen." The pipe that had lasted him decades nearly snapped under the Kage's grinding teeth, so great was his fury. Even the Anbu hidden in the office were choking under the weight of his monumental killing intent, even if Danzo was entirely unaffected.

"Do not tar me with the same brush you use to paint yourself Danzo. There is no way I would ever sacrifice one of my shinobi for..." Whatever the man had been about to say, Danzo cut him off with a single word.

"Hien." That single word took every ounce of wind from the old man's sails, slumping down and looking each and every one of his many decades.

"Regardless, that wasn't what I was suggesting anyways. Uzumaki is mentally incapable of making the connection as he is now. Instead Hinata would provide the emotional support he requires. Having a weak teammate who is obsessed with him would likely cause him to be even colder to her at first, at least until he sees how much the girl would attempt to improve based upon his rejections. And once she is captured, or injured trying to help him?" He didn't need to finish, Hiruzen's sharp mind filling in the details. Naruto would, by that point, have grown to see Hinata as "his", simply by virtue of the fact that Hinata would do everything she could to avoid being parted from him. He didn't need to be the legendary Professor to know just what the child would do to anything that damaged something of his. Despite the complete lack of morals in the plan, Hiruzen couldn't help but see it as a very good one. Almost good enough to convince him...but Danzo wanted something out of this, something that he wasn't saying.

"And just what will you be getting out of this Danzo?" They sat in silence for several minutes after the question, the aged fire shadow slowly calming down under the influence of his tobacco. It was then that Danzo spoke.

" Is it so difficult to believe that I simply want what is best for the village, and it's Jinchurikki? After all...Uzumaki is an orphan." There it was, his sympathy card. Hiruzen had honestly never even known he had it, much less that he was willing to use it, but that simple statement slammed into him with all the force of an A-ranked jutsu. Danzo had been an orphan, every single member of Root had been orphans...Sarutobi himself was an orphan. A terrible thing really, to have hundreds of mighty shinobi without ever knowing the care of a parent, but that was the way things were.

Unfortunately for Danzo's incredibly slim hopes, Sarutobi quickly put an end to the idea that he would be able to help Naruto from anywhere other than the shadows. For all of his arguments, and all of his valid points, the other man just didn't trust him enough to accept anything that came out of his mouth. Something that would damn him later on.

"Yes it is Danzo. There is nothing that you do that is not to your own advantage; you no longer even realize what it means to sacrifice yourself for the village." That was a low blow and Sarutobi knew it, was counting on it to enrage the man. It failed, even if the man's eye twitched and his knuckles slowly turned white from where they tightly gripped his cane. A single deep breath was enough to calm the man down, causing Sarutobi to curse mentally. This man truly was someone to be wary of.

"This village could be burning down and you would simply stand still. So tell me, what do you gain from this? The only way that I will possibly agree to your suggestion is if you are completely honest with me." Danzo's temper faded into the background, his icy gray eye no longer glaring at his hated rival. He stood slowly, playing up his old injuries just like he always had, and always would, turning towards the door. He opened it with caution, careful not to drop the cane, and moved to walk out, only a single sentence passing his lips, one that would leave Sarutobi thinking for a very long time.

"I see him as a potential successor; he has already learned the lessons it took me two decades to master." The man left then, the Hokage's head spinning and aching from where he had been forced to use everything at his disposal against the man, leaving him utterly exhausted, just as always. Both were unsatisfied with the outcome, but each knew that they had won.

Hiruzen had successfully prevented Danzo from recouping any of the influence that he had once held when Root answered his orders, for if he had given the man an inch he would have taken a mile.

Danzo successfully distracted Hiruzen from any realization as to what he had truly wanted in this meeting, something which he knew had succeeded once one of his soldiers spoke to him after he'd entered his home.

"It is done Danzo-sama. Each book has been planted, the note forged, and the young Uzumaki has been informed of an organization that holds an interest in him." There was again the slight tug at the corner of the man's lips as he questioned the practically vibrating shinobi, knowing that only one thing could have caused this much excitement in him.

"I take it Uzumaki-san is even more interesting than you had believed, Leo-kun?" The old man could see the younger's enthusiasm, even through the blankness of his mask. He almost sighed as the child...no, the man eagerly exploded into a tangent about his favorite subject, knowing that he had a willing listener.

"Uzumaki-kun is a genius Danzo-sama! Some of those traps nearly killed me, and one of them even tagged me with a very potent poison. I have to wonder just how he created them, after all Seli's theory of reduction states that..." The two continued the conversation for some time, not even Danzo's emotionless mask dissuading the younger man from explaining just why those traps were so fascinating, even managing to make the man interested on several points.

Long after the man had left Danzo was there, sipping his tea and gazing at his reflection in the cup, left alone with his thoughts.

' _I have done all that I can for you Naruto, just as I did for your father before you, and just like I do for every orphan who enters the shinobi ranks. It's up to you to carry on, and live up to your immeasurable potential._ '

 **~The Shinobi Way~**

Naruto had always known that he would never be able to rest; whether the interruptions were physical or mental merely varied from night to night, or day to day. It was a simple fact of his life, one that he had quickly grown used to, and it was no longer something that bothered him, if it had ever been. The boy honestly couldn't remember anymore; his earliest years were a mix of nothing but pain and desperation up until the last year at the orphanage. Because of this it was no surprise to Naruto when he once again awoke, soaked in a cold sweat, The nightmare that had been tormenting him was already fading into the background, just as they always did.

The memories from the nightmares never stayed for long, something that the child was thankful for. In reality he could escape his tormentors, one or the other being sent into death's embrace. Whether it was Naruto or his tormentor no longer mattered to the boy at this point. In his nightmares? He couldn't remember much, but what he did know was that they took away all of his control over the situations. And that was something far worse than any torture, or any beating; he should know. He's experienced them all.

Naruto was never able to realize just how he got outside after a nightmare, much less how he'd managed to gather his equipment and get dressed, but he always knew that he was running. Running from his past, running from his future, running from his mind. It was the only thing that could restore his control, the only thing that could stop his hands from shaking after his sleep.

It wasn't long before he was sweating out the fear, racing over the rooftops faster than any civilian could ever hope to see. The icy air of the night was a welcome relief from the cold sweat that had been clawing at his spine, a reminder that the demons of his mind only held as much power as he let them. A blessing; he had enough enemies in the world without his head being added into them. It wasn't long before he neared the walls, heading to his preferred training ground, one hidden away from any and all prying eyes. It was a much older ground, thoroughly used and abused over the years until it had finally been deemed unsalvageable. The destroyed terrain and years of chakra warfare made the land a hazard to new ninja, and even to older ninja if they were too caught up in a fight. There were decade-old traps and deadly jutsu that had never served their purpose there, and one wrong move could wind up killing him. It was quite an effective way of keeping his edge after so long without a proper attack...

Naruto shook his head angrily, irritated that his thoughts were going off on tangents again. Ever since he had been kicked out of the orphanage it had been hard to keep his mind from spiraling out of control, and it only grew worse the stronger he got. Even now, long after he'd learned the reason for his problem it was still difficult to prevent it.

The boy stopped all movement as the sound of clashing weapons invaded his ears, instinctively rolling as he hit the ground, his eyes flicking around for any sight of a fight. Where there were weapons there were problems, if only for Naruto, and more often than not he'd wound up getting stabbed or sliced by the weapons. In more recent times he had wound up killing the aggressors, but fear still lingered in his stomach; memories of just last month when a trio of jonin had shown him just how far he still had to go.

Against his better judgment Naruto moved towards the fighting, knowing that something else was going on. It might have been 1 a.m., and that was only if Naruto had slept for a bit longer than he was used to before the nightmare struck. The only people out at this time were the Anbu, drunkards, and everyone in the red-light district. In this part of town, the outskirts...there shouldn't be anyone save for the occasional shinobi patrol. Whatever was going on was likely an actual fight, and if that was the case it was quite likely that he would be able to take advantage of it. It was a hundred times easier to steal good equipment from someone who's focus was entirely on a fight than it was someone whose focus was on something less consuming. Oddly enough, the time when one's mind was most devoted for looking for threats and attacks was the time that all other senses were dulled. If one's ears were listening for one thing, other sounds were filtered out. For even the sharpest of senses, focus eliminated all but the things they were looking for; this was why genjutsu was so dangerous to shinobi and civilians alike.

It wasn't long before he found two shinobi trying to kill each other, two people he recognized. Iruka and Mizuki, the Sensei and Assistant for his year in the academy. Two experienced Chunin, both of whom were stronger than they appeared, and both of whom were already injured.

Iruka, a brunette of average height and build, a skilled infiltrator. The only distinguishing mark on his body was a very unique scar across his face, likely from where he hadn't been able to dodge an attack meant to sever his head. Blood and tears leaked from his shaking form as he tried to keep up with Mizuki, his green uniform littered with cuts and gashes, the dark red of his blood staining them. If he survived the night Iruka would never be able to get the stains out.

Mizuki, a silver-haired man of average height and a highly toned build. This was the man that knocked down the ones that Iruka set up, his skills lying in weaponry and area of effect jutsu. His taijutsu was also significantly better than his companions, even if his own uniform was cut in several places, deep scratches across his skin spewing blood.

At the moment they had stopped, Iruka's broken spirit coming out in every word he spoke.

"Why are you doing this Mizuki?" There was none of the chunin's strength in that question, nothing to indicate that just this morning the man had been standing tall and proud as he wished his class good luck. The other man laughed, bitterly and with no humor in it whatsoever. It was the sound of a broken man, one that had been fighting the inevitable for a very long time, and had finally given in before the tide.

"Why Iruka? Why are you fighting me? After all that we've been through I would have thought you'd let me fall to hell in peace!" The man's dark green eyes stood out vividly from the silver hair, matching the saddened brown eyes of his former comrade. Naruto, in the shadows, couldn't help but notice a large scroll that had been thrown into the shadows, sneaking over there as the drama continued.

"Fall to hell? I...I don't understand! What the hell are you doing? Why do you have the Forbidden Scroll?" Mizuki just laughed, throwing a kunai at his former friend. The man dodged it with naught but a tilt of the head, returning the favor with a hail of shuriken. Mizuki leapt to the side, sprinting forward to hit his former friend. Iruka caught the punch with his arm, throwing forward the other as Mizuki's head tilted to the side, his hand coming up with another kunai. Iruka's vest set the blade skating off to the left, letting Iruka's knee slam into Mizuki's stomach, sending the man stumbling backwards. The scarred chunin stopped the fight again, not pressing the assault on the man he still considered his friend. His broken brown eyes stared at the silver-haired man, wondering just what in the world had gone wrong.

"Tsk...fine Iruka. You want to know what I'm doing?" Mizuki panted, holding his stomach and cursing the fact that the slower chunin had sparred with him so much in the past. They could read each other's moves too well, had been partners for too long. They'd learned to cover each others weaknesses both in spars and in actual combat, and knew what the other was going to do even before the other did. It was why Iruka was still alive, even after his new leader had enhanced his speed and strength to far greater than Iruka had ever gone up against.

"In case it wasn't apparent enough, I've had enough of this village! The way it looks, the way we all act, this useless fucking perversion of shinobi! We're hired killers, mass murdering monsters, and here we're supposed to frolic with civilians like we have no problem with anything! We have to bow and kowtow to a bunch of arrogant slobs who have no knowledge of what we go through, and if we want to have a little bit of fun we have to go on a mission to get it!" Iruka just snarled angrily at the lie as Mizuki rushed him again, the two experienced shinobi dancing together in a clash of steel kunai. Iruka narrowly dodged a stab, deflecting a slash as he spun around a knee, right as an elbow crunched into his nose, blood spurting from injury as he stumbled back from the force. Mizuki leapt at him, pressing his advantage, even as Iruka seemed to trip. For a moment, Mizuki could see his victory as Iruka body tensed in preparation for the inevitable blow, one that it seemed he wouldn't be able to avoid. But Iruka kept falling, his hands hitting the ground first as his feet slammed into his friends chest, shoving him backwards as he finished the flip.

Iruka straightened, panting, forced to try and buy time as he spoke again. How did Mizuki get this fast? Iruka had only ever been a step behind him in the physical aspect of combat before now, yet Mizuki was now half again faster than Iruka was!

"Don...Don't you dare give that kind of bullshit, I have known you far too long for you to be able to lie to me like that. Why are you betraying Konoha? You've never been a traitor." Mizuki laughed bitterly at that, his mind on his new leader.

"I met someone stronger than the Hokage Iruka. Someone who understands what I've been going through every day for the past twelve years, and who sympathizes with me. A man that is actually willing to do what it takes to get the job done, rather than wait around and forgive the offender the moment they regretted doing the deed because the person shows regret from the harsh punishment. Someone who knows this village well enough to bring it to it's worthless knees." Iruka was the one to laugh bitterly this time, shaking his head. Mizuki was still lying, but like any good lie there was a scattered fragment of truth within.

"I told you Mizuki..." Iruka's voice was sad as he put the pieces together for the first time, a hint of steel entering his tone as his shoulders tensed and his feet scraped across the ground. Mizuki hesitated in confusion, a moment that Iruka took full advantage of, shunshinning forward in a burst of speed and slamming his fist into Mizuki's gut. The winded man stumbled back, Iruka not pressing the attack as his hands came up, tightening the band of his Hitai-ate. He was done playing around.

"You can't lie to me. You've gone to Orochimaru, a worthless piece of trash who wants to destroy our village. But your reason...are you really that pathetic?" Mizuki growled in fury, spitting out his words with a long burning rage that had been building for years now.

"Fine Iruka! I joined Orochimaru because he had found a way to triumph where the fourth failed! He was going to kill the demon, for all of time, never to return to kill innocents again! Is that such a bad thing? I'm helping to prevent other orphans, needless destruction and death, and I'm helping to stop a demon from destroying Konoha from inside our own fucking system!" His eyes were shining with his rage, the smallest sparks of insanity within. Iruka watched as his friend worked himself into a frenzy at the thought of the demon, a little confused from the reason.

"You were giving Naruto a chance Mizuki! I know you hate the Kyuubi with everything you are...but he's just a boy!" Mizuki snarled from rage, stopped from attacking only from the lingering need to justify himself to the one that was once his best friend.

"I gave him all the chances in the world you worthless fool! No human being could possibly be that cold all the time. He never smiles, never makes small talk, and is inhumanly calm at all times! Even in the middle of a spar he is icy cold and not even the slightest bit stressed. And there is no way that a child should ever be that polite! We've taught over a hundred shinobi since we started, and each and every one of them started of as little brats that couldn't hold a candle to what they've grow into...but he's just a monster! The Kyuubi has annihilated whatever bit of the child might have survived the sealing, if any did to begin with!" Iruka was the one to grow angry this time, his own past coming back to haunt him as they clashed again.

"What the fuck am I then, Mizuki?" He asked as he tried to slug the man in the face, the silver-haired shinobi dodging with ease, retaliating with his own punch. Iruka only just managed to dodge it, using Mizuki's confusion to slam his shoulder into his chest.

"I'm an orphan Mizuki! Do you know how many options an abused orphan has in this village? You have one of three options Mizuki, and one of them is the one that Naruto took!" That surprised the onlooker, who's pen stopped moving over a scroll for just a moment, making sure that he was still hidden. Mizuki stopped cold, glaring at Iruka, demanding an answer. The Chunin obliged angrily.

"Three paths Mizuki, and in case you were wondering, it also corresponds to which style of combat that they will prefer! If you were half the teacher you claim to be you would have realized that." Naruto listened in as he kept copying from the scroll, halfway done already from the years of practice he had gotten.

"One: Ninjutsu. In case you were wondering, this was my path, even if my specialty is infiltration. It starts off with a child desperate for attention he never gets at home, any kind of attention. A prankster, a class clown, or an upstart show off...do the details really matter? A child, desperate for attention of any kind, and will do anything to gain it. They find their future in the fury of ninjutsu, and always tend to go for the flashier techniques until they mature. You remember how I was a prankster?" Mizuki flinched back like he had been punched, remembering how he had been one of the kids who had mocked Iruka for being so pathetic. Iruka's glare only darkened further as he raised his hand, holding up two fingers.

"Two: Genjutsu. A child that has accepted the fact that no one likes them, that no one _will_ like them until they grow strong enough to demand respect. They find their comfort in the cold world of illusion, in the icy world of fact and control. They educate themselves, and treat all others the way that they have been treated." Mizuki started to protest in fury, but Iruka continued with a name.

"Yuhi Kurenai." Mizuki winced again; another person that he had mocked. And now for the third, Iruka's finger coming up to prove it.

"Four: Taijutsu. This is the most varied of the three, as I'm sure you know. It is also the most all-compassing, because both of the other two models will fit it. But there is one major difference between this one and the other two, because this one inherits the most brutal of the lot; the ones who were abused rather than just lonely. They can be extroverts or introverts, happy and enthusiastic or cold and vicious, but there is one constant between them all. They find their comfort in the brutal beating of any who might hurt them. Rock Lee is an excellent example of this one, right Mizuki? Yet another orphan you taunted; at least with him you had the decency to never do it in front of him!" Mizuki's head sank down for a moment in guilt, but when it rose again there was a fire in his eyes.

"Yes Iruka, you're right. The three type of orphans that I mocked when they started out failures. I'm not perfect, and when I see someone try so little yet fail so completely I can't help but laugh. But the Demon doesn't fit in any of these models! With each of the three they have the capacity to care for others. The demon doesn't have that! You've tried to approach him, have tried to make him warm up to you. You, a Shinobi who was able to infiltrate an Iwa Platoon and become one of them, couldn't even manage to make a supposedly abused child like you! That worthless piece of shit doesn't even care about anyone here! Any form of kindness is treated with that icy, angry stare, one that has caused tears in the younger years!" Iruka just shook his head, his feet sliding into a ready position, his arms coming up into his stance.

"You never have understood them Mizuki. Naruto could fit into either Taijutsu or Genjutsu; no one knows him well enough to classify him. Let's finish this." Mizuki snarled wordlessly as Iruka's hands flashed through seals, his own coming up to counter. They both knew this jutsu; both were masters of it, having spent hours testing them against each other. When they worked together it was an S-Rank Combination Jutus; now it was time to test them against each other.

" **Katon: Dorogan No Jutsu!"**

It was yelled in unison, Two fireballs the size of a fist zooming towards each other, both panting from the sheer amount of Chakra that had been packed into this jutsu. Two small little fireballs, merely the size of their fists...but when they clashed it caused an explosion so big that both Iruka and Mizuki were blasted back as the ground atomized around it. Neither had been expecting that, but it was Mizuki who took advantage of it.

Iruka struggled upwards, his hands pushing him up from the ground as he groaned in pain. The burns were irritating, but nothing he couldn't deal with. The problem came when he felt a cold metal point pressing his chin upwards, his eyes rising to meet the furious eyes of Mizuki.

"So it's over." Iruka wished he could say that he saw his life flashing before his eyes, or that he felt some form of bravery, or even cowardice. All he felt was resignation.

"You might have been able to match me before Iruka, but Orochimaru improved me long before he ordered me to obtain the scroll. It took some time to get control over it...but I recover faster than you ever will. It's always been your downfall in our spars." Mizuki kept talking, almost psyching himself up. For all of his words, for all his anger...Iruka had been his best friend for well over a decade. At some points, his only friend.

"Goodbye Iruka; I will see you in hell." Iruka's eyes closed, accepting his death. Not the way he'd wanted to go...but at least it was for his Village.

Mizuki braced himself, ready to thrust the kunai through. The tear that traced it's way down his face was ignored; Mizuki had made his decision months ago. Now was the time to stand by it. His wrist jerked, Iruka's blood squeezing out around the point of the kunai, even as it fell from an unfeeling hand. Iruka's eyes open after a moment, spotting Mizuki standing above him, with three needles in his neck. Mizuki's body fell down on him, crushing him into the ground, Iruka too surprised to even try to stop it. It was only a minute later, when someone else pulled Mizuki's body off of him, that it sank in. He was still alive.

He looked around spotting his savior placing the Forbidden scroll down. It wasn't anyone he was expecting; out of every shinobi he knew, all the Anbu on patrol tonight, it was Uzumaki Naruto that had found him. The boy didn't even bother looking at Iruka for several moments, just checking Mizuki.

"Is...Is he dead?" Naruto's ears twitched at Iruka's saddened and broken voice, turning to face him. Iruka couldn't help the flinch he gave off as those cold eyes stared at him, not a single speck of emotion in them. When the boy spoke, it was cold and calm.

"Mizuki has been placed into a near-death state. He will awaken when these senbon are removed. I have signaled for Anbu." His sentences were clipped and polite; never any form of small talk when this boy spoke. Iruka knew why the boy talked this way; he'd experienced one or two beatings by drunkards during his childhood; Iruka couldn't imagine how many Naruto had gone through. When all you have ever heard are people who cannot speak correctly, you wind up forcing yourself to speak carefully, clearly, and quite often concisely.

"Why did you save me?" Naruto just looked at him for a second again before turning back to Mizuki, unable to keep himself from asking the question he'd had for several minutes now.

"Why did you defend me?" The question shut Iruka up for some time, long enough for the Anbu to arrive and hear the boy's story. Iruka numbly agreed, wondering just why he had prioritized defending the demon child over his best friend. Right before they walked into the Hokage Office Iruka found his answer, and stopped the boy just long enough to tell him.

"I don't really have a reason Naruto; I just know that what Mizuki was saying was wrong. I defended you because no one deserves to be alone. I've been there, and I know how it feels." That was it; Iruka had extended his hand once again to the broken child. It would be up to Naruto to accept it in the future, if he so chose. For he definitely owed the boy now, and he had always regretted the way that Naruto had grown up alone.

Naruto just followed him in; more than one person had tried that approach, and more than one had failed in it. Iruka would not be the last to fail this way in gaining his trust.

Sarutobi was waiting for them, smoking on his pipe, just like he always was when there was an issue to contemplate. But his voice was steady, holding no exhaustion considering the early hour of the morning. It was quite likely that the man hadn't even gone to sleep yet.

"Report, Iruka." The bruised and battered shinobi snapped to attention, his voice calm as he reported the events of the night.

"Sir. At 12:30 A.M. I went out into the village, unable to sleep. After wandering around for an uncertain amount of time I noticed a shadow moving through the village from the rooftop I was sitting on. There was no Anbu patrol nearby, so I followed it to the outskirts of the village. Once the potential intruder moved into the light, I discovered that it was Mizuki, and upon his back was a large scroll, resembling the forbidden scroll. I approached him, only to be attacked. We fought for several minutes, eventually with him knocking me several feet away. He threw off the scroll and started to fight seriously. I have sparred with Mizuki many times, and he was never that strong or that fast before tonight, and I do not believe that he was ever that capable. If it wasn't for my knowledge of how he moved I would have been dead in just a few minutes. With my knowledge of his tactics I was able to match him for a while, even if I took more damage then he did.

The fight lulled for a moment, as I tried to find out just what was going on. Mizuki revealed that he was a traitor, working for Orochimaru to steal the forbidden scroll. In exchange he told me that Orochimaru had promised..." Iruka drifted off for a moment, his eyes drifting over to Naruto. There was a law that prevented him from continuing to report, but it didn't matter, because Naruto picked up where Iruka left off.

"Orochimaru promised Mizuki that he would give the traitor the power to kill the demon Kyuubi; me." Sarutobi didn't even flinch, even if Iruka did, and simply motioned for Iruka to continue. The man did, turning his face back to Sarutobi.

"Naruto is correct; Mizuki was under the impression that Orochimaru would provide him with power, enough power to kill Naruto, no matter who stood in his way. Mizuki truly believed that Naruto was a demon. After a few minutes the fight began again, and we deadlocked with one of our strongest jutsu's, one we normally used as a tag-team jutsu. It exploded, and he recovered quicker; I would have died if it hadn't been for Naruto stepping in." Sarutobi took several moments to absorb the information, his eyes on the young blonde child. Naruto had grown up a lot over the years; still a little thin for his age, standing at 5'1, and with his blonde hair just long enough to shade over his eyes.

Naruto's past was evident in every thing about the boy; he had a pair of loose, black cargo pants, with several pouches dotting his waist. Sarutobi knew that each had some form of weapon within. He kept those pockets well stocked with tools as well, never knowing just what he might run into. The pants were tucked into a pair of black combat boots; one of the few Shinobi that Sarutobi had ever known to wear boots instead of sandals. It was a sign of the boys mindset; shinobi wear their specifically designed sandals to keep their feet away from the blood that they shed, for when one of Sarutobi's soldiers got serious they would be wading through it. Naruto's boots implied that he didn't mind the blood; the others who had worn the boots? They'd reveled in it.

His shirt was gray and tight against his flesh, but not so tight as to reveal the mesh armor it covered, the cool links of metal weaved within the fabric likely pressed to his chest. An extra layer of protection against those that would attack him, something that would let blades slide off of him as he twisted around the field of battle. On his back was a well-maintained ninjato; a shorter blade designed for assassins. It was quick and easy to wield, strong enough to stand up to even a zanbato when wielded correctly, but more designed for quick kills. A lethal blade, with neither refinement or forgiveness. Just like the majority of it's wielders. The final piece of the ensemble was his forehead protector, in it's proper place, shielding his forehead from any blades that would seek a quick end to his life. Well, the final piece that Sarutobi understood at least.

Naruto also wore a dark gray Haori, a trench coat with multiple pockets on the inside. His blade was on the outside of it, sheathed across his back with the hilt peaking up above his right shoulder, Not that big of a deal by itself, but it was the decorations upon it that Sarutobi had never been able to understand. There were small foxes trailing after each other across the very bottom of his coat, their dark red fur a stark contrast from the gray of the coat. Naruto was already believed to be the Kyuubi in human form, even if he hadn't known why he was hated before tonight, and the foxes only caused the boy more trouble from the villagers. Of course, with all the attention on the foxes, most people didn't even bother looking at the Kanji that was sewn into the back of his coat, the symbol for Silence.

His clothes were meant to blend in and defend him; the mesh armor covered most of his body; and shinobi mesh armor was significantly stronger than that pathetic civilian type. Everything about his equipment was streamlined to ensure both easy access and stealth, and no one who hadn't had years of experience in seeing it wouldn't notice it. They would just overlook him, just like Naruto likely wanted.

"I see Iruka-kun." Iruka couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as his Hokage returned to the genial old man he normally was, rather than the commander that he truly was. When Sarutobi got serious the world listened, and if he was disappointed in you there was nothing that could stop the guilt. The old man smiled at the chunin, leaning forward a little to speak now.

"I trust that in the future you will be even more vigilant in your training?" Iruka smiled slightly at the Hokage, nodding his head. He had been somewhat...lax recently, but he would fix that. Sarutobi just smiled a little wider, before dismissing Iruka.

"Go and get your injuries taken care of Iruka-kun; after that you can have the week off. I know how important Mizuki was to you, and to be betrayed is not something I would wish upon any of my shinobi." Iruka just shook his head, feeling the pain of his leader from the countless betrayals that the man had suffered within his lifetime.

"It is the world we live in Hokage-sama; all that we can do is try and recover afterwards." Sarutobi nodded in agreement as Iruka walked out, sharp brown eyes turning to Naruto.

"Why did you save Iruka's life Naruto-kun? You've never liked anyone in the academy, much less him." Naruto stared coldly at him for several moments, his apathy justifying Sarutobi's question. But Naruto did answer, his right hand coming up to tap twice on his headband.

"I did not want to become a shinobi of this village; I did it anyways because it was the best of the terrible decisions before me. Until Konoha decides to betray me, a shinobi in her ranks, it is my duty to defend her." Sarutobi wasn't satisfied with that, but Naruto turned and walked out; without being dismissed. It was only Naruto's parting words that let the boy leave unscathed, that tempered Sarutobi's anger.

"Those who attack me have lost sight of their purpose in life; I have never had a purpose before now." Surprisingly, that sated Sarutobi's need to understand the boy, letting him leave easily. It only made sense after all.

Naruto had never belonged, never been cared for. This story was true for orphans and the gutter trash the world over, and so was the result. Once they were finally accepted, they would do anything and everything to stay that way. History was full of examples; Uchiha Gein, the progenitor of his clan. Uzumaki Shien, first of the Uzumaki. Shimura Danzo, Founder of Root. Kaguya Kaien, the founder of the Kaguya Clan. If things went well, Naruto would fight his hardest for Konoha, no matter the abuse he went through on the way to acceptance, simply because he'd become a shinobi; and, for the first time in his life, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

As Naruto walked out of the office, he heard a voice, just like he had for several years.

" **For a being known as the God of Shinobi, Sarutobi is a foolish man. He didn't even ask about me, someone much more impressive than little old you.** " Naruto didn't react, only thinking his response, his eyes roving the building for threats.

' _There was a reason I made up the lie about purpose, Kyuubi. If he believes I am actually loyal to Konoha he is more likely to let me slide on a few things, at least when you consider how big of a flight risk Jinchurikki are. Who knows? He might even let me be trained by my "Jonin-Sensei."_ ' There was a snort within his mind, a loud noise that had once made him jump in the real world.

" **Why do I doubt that you even care. Naruto?"** The boy's eyes iced over just a little bit more as he glared at the chunin who had moved to block his way, the woman taking an instinctive step back as she flinched. The boy continued out of the Hokage Tower unmolested, his mind still on Kyuubi.

' _It would be nice to be trained for once, but I doubt that it will happen. There is no point in worrying over maybe's at this point in my life; all that matters is staying alive long enough, becoming strong enough to finally ditch this hellhole.'_

Back in the Hokage Office, Hiruzen's eyes narrowed in irritation; Naruto was even smarter than he seemed, to play with his emotions like that. After all, it was well recorded that the Old Hokage himself had only found purpose in protecting his village.

"A point to you my boy; but I'm still winning." The glow of the embers in his pipe illuminated his features in the now dark room as the man stood, shadows flickering through. A simple hand movement announced that he was going to bed, the Anbu who were always by him flickering away alongside him. He would resume his mantle upon the morrow, and it would require a changing of his methods. He had manipulated everything about Naruto's life; it was time to step up his game, or else the well-versed child would begin to regain lost ground.

 **Author's Note:** Yes, it's late. Blame a combination of Smite and a popular, long fic that I finally got around to reading. Chunin exam day re-something or another by perfect lionheart. Amazing. Anyways, this second chapter is done. Before anyone say's anything about the holes at the end, they are there for a reason. Besides, does anyone really expect my Sarutobi to truly be taken in this easily? Honestly, it's like you were expecting a Bashing.

Now, people will probably protest that I'm bashing Sasuke in this chapter; I'm not. From Danzo's and my Kakashi's perspective, the brat is a worthless little brat. Sure, pain, death, blah blah blah suck it the fuck up. They are experienced, hardened shinobi who have had more shit happen to them in minutes than the Uchiha has in his entire life during the whole Naruto universe. I'm going to be covering all the holes in this story that that I can, and it's going to be a long one, starting with the last chapter and ending with the final fight. So don't expect tiny chapters.

Now as for Iruka? Fuck him. Yeah, it's wonderful that he's extending the helping hand, good for him, he's a good Samaritan and all that. Sometimes though, you have to grab someone by the throat and force them to accept you, which is what it will likely take with Naruto. But I will focus on character development in a ninja world. So accept the fact that there is going to be a great deal of fighting, and character development in the fights. You can only surpass your peak in the face of adversity.


End file.
